Echoes of the gothic: transmedia reinterpretations of Edgar Allan Poe's legacy in independent films and video games

The study contextualizes a resurgence of interest in Edgar Allan Poe, exemplified by recent screen adaptations, and asks how his works are adapted and expanded across independent films and video games within a transmedia ecosystem. It frames transmedia narrative as the dispersion of story elements across multiple media, each contributing uniquely to a comprehensive experience, and notes increasingly participatory audiences in a convergent media environment. The research questions are: (1) What are the characteristics of transmedia narrative in adaptations of Poe and how do they appear in independent films and games? (2) Which narrative genres dominate? (3) How do gothic elements and contexts intertwine in these audiovisual reinterpretations? The purpose is to understand how creators reinterpret and expand Poe’s legacy across platforms, focusing on independent productions for their creativity, accessibility, and distinct production logics. The study is significant for communication and literary studies, connecting gothic narrative, transmedia, and independent media, and examining how digital, participatory, and convergent practices sustain and reinterpret Poe’s heritage.

The related works review covers media convergence and transmedia storytelling (Jenkins, Kalogeras, Guerrero-Pico & Scolari, Xu et al.), highlighting that TN disperses narratives across platforms with distinctive contributions, autonomy of components, and active user participation and remix culture. It outlines the gothic genre’s historical development and features (Walpole, Shelley, Poe; themes of death, madness, oppression, duality; gloomy settings, ruins, supernatural) and argues that such characteristics support transmedial expansion. Drawing on McLuhan’s medium theory and scholarship on fantasy and transmedia (Harvey), the review notes Poe’s wide adaptation into film, comics, novels, games (Montoya), and the autonomous circulation of his figure in popular culture (Neimeyer), sustained by networks of consumers, media, and niches (Zarzycka). It also synthesizes scholarship on Poe’s aesthetics and style—dark Romanticism, grotesque, symbolism, psychological intensity (Bodur, Bryant, Lima, Zimmerman, Ljungquist, Kennedy & Peeples)—as a basis for adaptation into visual and interactive media. Overall, the review positions Poe as a paradigmatic transmedia figure whose mythos translates well to contemporary media ecologies.

Design: Qualitative study using narrative analysis (Bamberg, 2012) complemented by summative content analysis and non-participant observation. The approach emphasizes immersion to construct a transmedia analytical framework (Therrien, 2023), examining how Poe’s narrative techniques and gothic elements are preserved or transformed in cinema and games. Corpus: 5 independent films and 5 independent video games freely accessible online. Films were selected via IMDb categorizations and availability on YouTube; games were sourced from Itch.io and GameJolt (browser-accessible across OSs). Review period: Nov 10, 2023–Jan 10, 2024. Focus on independent works due to investment patterns, creative autonomy, and accessibility. Objectives: (1) Analyze transmedial components (Mythos, Topos, Ethos) in selected works; (2) Classify predominant narrative genres (horror, terror, noir) per Hernández-Santaolalla et al. (2022); (3) Evaluate incorporation of gothic elements (sublimity, abjection) per Ursachi (2020) and Burke (1958)/Kristeva (1982). Analytical dimensions and indicators:

• Transmedia contextual components (Tosca & Klastrup, 2019): Mythos (characters, stories, conflicts), Topos (setting, time), Ethos (moral codes, dilemmas).
• Genres of audiovisual narratives (Hernández-Santaolalla et al., 2022): Horror (supernatural threat, irrational victory), Terror (killer, blood/viscera, POV), Noir (cynicism/pessimism, antiheroes, narcissistic villain, sexualized female characters, dark/claus­trophobic spaces, urban iconography).
• Gothic elements (Ursachi, 2020): Sublimity (exaggerated emotional intensity; terror and awe; Burke’s pain/danger), Abjection (collapse of meaning; bodily reminders; ethical/moral transgression; Kristeva). Procedure: Full review of the 10 works, coding across dimensions using Atlas.ti v.22. Comparative interpretation emphasized how narrative and aesthetic choices convey Poe’s psychological, existential, and gothic themes in each medium.

• Transmedia components in films: Mythos emphasized confrontation with guilt, personal conflicts, and deceit (e.g., The Tell-Tale Heart; The Sealed Room); Topos featured closed/oppressive spaces and historical/timeless settings (e.g., Buried Alive; La Chute de la maison Usher; castles/mansions evoking 18th–19th centuries); Ethos revealed distorted morality, distrust, and betrayal (e.g., The Tell-Tale Heart; Nella stretta morsa del ragno; The Sealed Room; Buried Alive).
• Genres in films: Horror predominates. Films mix horror and terror with noir inflections; however, supernatural threats and explicit fear via the irrational support greater compatibility with horror than terror.
• Gothic elements in films: Sublimity manifests through heightened emotions and hypnotic atmospheres (e.g., La Chute de la maison Usher; The Tell-Tale Heart), while abjection appears via decay, moral degeneration, and fear of premature burial (strongest in Buried Alive). Closed spaces and expressionist imagery amplify gothic tension.
• Transmedia components in video games: Mythos (immersive narratives, central conflicts) preserved via mystery, exploration, and confrontation with fears or supernatural forces (e.g., Looking for Edgar; The Town of Poe Chapter One; That’s Raventastic; A Night of Terrors; Escape The Red Death). Topos uses past-set, dark, claustrophobic locales (caves, castles, cemeteries). Ethos shows fear-driven choices, morally ambiguous actions, and decision points affecting outcomes; some titles foreground humor/irony (That’s Raventastic) while others emphasize survival ethics (Escape The Red Death).
• Genres in video games: Noir is most prominent, offering complex criminal narratives and cynical, dark atmospheres; horror and terror provide visceral fear and tension but less complex narrative development. Titles like The Town of Poe Chapter One and That’s Raventastic best exemplify noir atmospheres, while A Night of Terrors and Escape The Red Death exemplify horror/terror features.
• Gothic elements in video games: Sublimity evokes awe/terror via exaggerated environments and symbolic integration (e.g., Escape The Red Death; A Night of Terrors; Looking for Edgar). Abjection emerges through survival pressures, grotesque scenes, moral decay, and boundary situations (e.g., Escape The Red Death; That’s Raventastic; pressure missions in The Town of Poe Chapter One). Overall, both elements enrich emotional and psychological engagement beyond mere entertainment.
• Cross-media differentiation: Films leverage horror and the supernatural to elicit fear; games lean into noir’s moral ambiguity and interactivity, deepening engagement through player agency.

Findings address the research questions by showing that effective transmedia reinterpretations of Poe require coherent integration of Mythos, Topos, and Ethos, while medium-specific affordances shape dominant genres and narrative strategies. In cinema, atmospheric horror and supernatural elements intensify fear and psychological conflict; in games, interactive choice and noir framing foster moral complexity and participatory engagement. The study underscores infotainment’s role: blending engaging storytelling with thematic depth sustains attention and communicates Poe’s enduring concerns (mortality, madness, guilt, ethics). It aligns with convergence and participatory culture theories, demonstrating how audience interaction (especially in games) amplifies spreadability and recontextualization of gothic motifs. The gothic’s sublimity and abjection translate effectively across media, with films emphasizing visual/sensory awe and decay, and games enabling experiential confrontation with ethical dilemmas and abject scenarios through player agency. This medium-sensitive analysis elucidates why horror prevails in films and noir in games, linking genre prominence to each medium’s narrative affordances and user engagement models.

The study contributes an integrated, transmedia analysis of independent films and video games adapting Poe, showing that maintaining coherent Mythos, Topos, and Ethos is central to preserving his gothic essence while enabling innovation. It demonstrates a medium-specific divergence: films predominantly mobilize horror’s supernatural and psychological fear, whereas games favor noir’s cynical atmospheres and complex moral narratives, with both deploying sublimity and abjection to engage themes of death, morality, and the uncanny. These insights highlight how transmedia storytelling preserves and extends Poe’s legacy for contemporary audiences, leveraging interactivity and convergence to deepen cultural transmission. Future research should expand corpora, examine emerging technologies (VR, AI) that personalize fear and immersion, and develop robust frameworks to evaluate both faithful adaptations and inventive reinterpretations. Collaboration with independent creators can improve access and methodological alignment with rapidly evolving tools and platforms.

• Rapidly changing platforms and development tools complicate longitudinal comparison and methodological consistency across time.
• Limited access/distribution of independent works constrained the corpus to 5 films and 5 games that were freely accessible during the review period.
• High variability in fidelity and interpretative approaches to Poe complicates comparative analysis across adaptations.
• Small, exploratory sample limits generalizability; findings indicate patterns rather than definitive distributions across all Poe-inspired media.