As part of the combined Language and Literature AS Level course, students are required to produce two pieces of writing drawing on their wider reading in a specific genre. Our chosen genre is "The Gothic" and students have immersed themselves in both the typical content and storylines of this genre, whilst analysing the key stylistic features so integral to the successful creation of a gothic text.

Susan Hill's novel "The Woman in Black" contains all the classic ingredients we would associate with this style of writing; foggy marshlands, abandoned houses, graveyards and, of course, ghosts. The adaptation of this novel for the theatre uses all these expectations of the gothic to genuinely spine chilling good effect - so successfully in fact that the play has now been running for 18 years and is an established staple of the West End scene.

The English Department recently organized for the two Language/Literature groups to visit London to see the play, which they thoroughly enjoyed and which provoked a great deal of discussion about both the play's staging and the effectiveness of the adaptation. We look forward to reading their own attempts at Gothic writing over the course of this term.

JBP