What is Southern Gothic with a Texas twist? Maybe I should call it Texas Gothic. These stories have a Texas twist because they are set in Texas. They become gothic when the setting is derelict, isolated, sinister, maybe haunted. The alienation can be due to poverty, mental illness, eccentricity, Distrust and fear of institutions such as marriage, education, religion and the government is a theme in Gothic literature. The characters struggle with confusion about good and evil