Das Unheimliche

I had not previously heard of Freud's idea of the Uncanny; it can be described as something that is strangely familiar, like the feeling of deja vu. When imagining this idea I often think about The Twilight Zone, and the unsettling idea of a place being so familiar, but slightly off. I believe that Freud's idea of the Uncanny can be considered a Gothic trope because it has that mild unsettling, creepy factor that so many traditional Gothic works share. As I think about the Uncanny I imagine "uncanny look alikes" as doppelgangers, or a hall of mirrors where there are multiple reflections and they all seem just barely different than the original. To me, the Uncanny is an illusion that can just barely be seen through, and in my opinion that is a Gothic theme.