In the Dream House: 48. Dream House as American Gothic Summary & Analysis

To be a gothic romance, a story needs to have two elements: “woman plus habitation”—that is, the physical elements of the house are vital to the story—and “marrying a stranger.” Machado compares these rules to her own story. She didn’t marry the woman from the Dream House, and the house itself wasn’t a typically gothic manor, but it was a vital presence in their relationship, and more importantly, the woman was a stranger; she only revealed tiny parts of herself at certain moments until the whole truth flooded out.