Atmosphere, Action, or Supernatural?

        Out of the three elements I believe that atmosphere is the most effective element. The atmosphere is the setting and diction in Gothic novels that build up the suspense and the sense of unease in the reader. The thrill and tension is what the atmosphere adds in to Gothic novels. Not to mention the anxiety and nervousness it adds to it as well. Gothic novels are characterized by fear, horror, mystery, darkness and the supernatural. In my opinion with out the atmosphere included in Gothic novels, they are really not considered Gothic novels anymore. 

        Whats a Gothic novel with out the thrill and unease? The action and supernatural does add the anxiousness and thrill factor, but Gothic novels are still really nothing with out the atmosphere. The atmosphere are the crutches that hold up the other two elements. The action and supernatural stand out because of the atmosphere element. With out the atmosphere a Gothic novel would be like a sentence with only a noun and a verb. I believe that the effective element in a Gothic novel is the atmosphere. 

Examples from the novel, Frankenstein:

• "Their icy and glittering peaks shown in the sunlight over the clouds. My heart, which was before sorrowful,. now swelled with something like joy... I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing toward me with superhuman speed. He bounded over the crevices of the ice, among which I had walked with caution...as he approached, seemed to exceed that of man... I was troubled..., (Shelley, pg. 77)."

• "...I remember , a stronger light pressed upon my nerves , so that i was obligated to shut my eyes. Darkness then came over me, and troubled me; but hardly had i felt this, when, by opening my eyes, as i now suppose , the light poured in upon me again..., (Shelley, pg. 80)."