Question

Read the excerpt from "The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture."

Answer 1

This excerpt from Washington Irving's The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture exemplifies Gothic fiction by referring to the feelings of terror, nervousness and morbid curiosity that the character is experiencing after having noticed a portrait painting located over the mantelpiece in the room where he is spending the night. The painting is exerting such a powerful effect on him that his imagination is running wild, and he is believing, in spite of the irrationality of his thought, that the sitter is actually looking at him, which scares him and distresses him. Placing the characters in a dangerous and/or mysterious situation, whether it is real or imaginary, is also a characteristic of Gothic fiction.

Answer 2

It produces shivers down the spine, or a feeling of unease.