Abstract: Strictly speaking, British Gothic novel studies of Western countries began in 1950s. While the critical mass since 1970s brings about their greater growing in depth, they show loopholes such as heterogeneous argument and expansive definition. And in China, the studies have just made a start. It is necessary for us to sort out the accomplishment of Western countries and adopt the useful “twocombiningmethods” of the genre with the context of the society, history and culture, and the modern theories with the textreading, so as to break through the approach to the field.

Key words: studies, historical survey, Gothic novel