About this Jam

The original jam page for American Gothic Jam was deleted without warning by its previous host, and is now rehosted for possible participants who were earnestly working.None of the new jam hosts are associated with the previous host.

The original jam wasMarch 14th 2026, 11:00 PM(CST) to May 15th 2026, 11:00 PM (CST).

Extended deadline is February 13th 2027,11:00 PM (CST), birthday of Grant DeVolson Wood, artist of American Gothic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic). However, please still submit your game even if the deadline is passed.

All members involved in a team and the game jam have to be legal adults.

This jam is supported by and available for discussion on the VN Freaks forum (https://forum.vnfreaks.com/). The general discussion thread is found here (https://forum.vnfreaks.com/t/american-gothic-jam-general-discussion-thread/91/16).Please consider signing up for teambuilding, and other forum events like creative writing exercises or public guides and resources (https://forum.vnfreaks.com/c/guides-and-resources/19).

Most of the original description of the jam is below.

What is American Gothic?

The Newberry Library describes American Gothic as "a genre generally shifts away from the outward appearances of haunted landscapes and buildings, as well as outward signs of the supernatural, to the inward terrors of one’s own mind." It is, as Charles Crow outlines,“the imaginative expression of the fears and forbidden desires of Americans.”

While doing research for how to describe American Gothic, I found a list of films from Letterboxd used Amedeo Santolini, whocaptioned his list (https://web.archive.org/web/20260331035157/https://letterboxd.com/amedeosantolini/list/american-gothic/)with "America's great songs of decadence and longing."

Alternatively, you are fine to use this as a way to explore a type of Gothic in America. Often cited is Midwestern Gothic or Southern Gothic**Interpret this how you desire.**Use the examples below to help you gain some inspiration.

thank you fablelustre (https://fablelustre.itch.io/) for this writeup:

The American Gothic literary movement is derived from the Gothic tradition of English literature...

...the Gothic is a horror/drama aligned genre which points out the Disturbing and sublimated aspects of Society. It is most often preoccupied with the idea of a disturbed past coming back “haunt” and disturb the present (emotionally, mentally, physically).

This “haunting” often takes the form of a supernatural phenomenon (Ghosts!). A lot of the time, the root of the conflict or melodrama is a past sin (historically, just Christian sin like. this whole genre is pretty rooted in Anglo Christian normative values). Poe’s The Telltale Heart is a good example– dude is driven mad by the guilt of a murder he committed

A lot of the Gothic is also concerned with the concept of the “Uncanny”. Which is a particular kind of eerieness, usually produced by a sense of things being slightly off from the “norm” and therefore feeling forboding and unsafe. Unnatural doublings/twins/doppelgangers or things that appear “almost Human” are common ways to show Uncanny mirrors of our reality. Ghosts , Premonitions, and Dreams also.

As for the America side of the genre… America is built on inequities and horrors to maintain its status quo. The American Gothic explores how fucked up America is by inverting certain expectations of “modern normativity” and also showing how America’s past affects its unequal present. A good example is Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Which uses a Haunted House to parallel the main character’s fractured psyche as she is rejected from normative American domestic life and is unable to “live normally”. There is great tragedy in this. Often the Gothic can be more melancholic that outright scary.

America is pretty diverse so there are a lot of different ways to approach the genre. Could look at the culture of a particular region (Southern Gothic, Midwest Gothic) to help narrow things down. It’s very vibes based. What is the particular atmosphere and tone of a region… and then how can we peel back the facade of the Normal/Acceptable and perhaps see something Ugly and Wrong underneath.

Rules

1. All members involved in a team and the game jam have to be legal adults.
2. This jam isnotopen to bigots. This jam is a celebration of art and community built by a wide array of fantastic individuals and their families. Fuck ICE. Their sympathizers are not welcome here.
3. Sensitive themes are welcome, but please provide proper content warnings.
4. You can submit an older project or start a new one. If you want to create a new project for this jam, you may start it before the jam opens.
5. This jam isnotexclusive to digital games. You can make zines, TTRPGs, comics, books, music, etc.
6. You must put out a finished product. As in something that is playable/readable/etc and does not randomly stop or otherwise contain gamebreaking bugs. 1. Demos are fine and encouraged! 2. Projects can be "works in progress" that are updated over time.
7. Fangames are allowed. You are responsible for giving all credits.
8. Entries that use AI-generated assets, such as generated music, images, or text, are not allowed. If the hosts discover your entry used any form of generative AI, your entry will be disqualified.
9. Members can work in either teams or solo. There is no restriction on how big your team can be, but be careful on overscoping.

What are some examples of the American Gothic?

thank youIntoTheSinx (https://intothesinx.itch.io/)for more considerable examples.

NOVELS AND LITERATURE

• wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic_fiction)
• House of Leaves (2000)
• The Yellow Wallpaper (1892)
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962)
• The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)
• Moby-Dick or, The Whale (1851)
• Fables (comics)
• Me and the Devil Blues (2003 manga)
• The Haunting of Hill House + The Lottery (and other books by Shirley Jackson)
• Sharp Objects (2006 book +2018 miniseries)
• It’s a good life (short story (http://ciscohouston.com/docs/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html)+ The Twilight Zone episode)
• There There by Tommy Orange (2018)
• The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015)
• The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (2022)
• Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim (2005)

MUSIC

• 16 Horsepower
• The Bridge City Sinners
• Amigo the Devil
• Those Poor Bastards
• Ethel Cain
• Check out more here
  

FILM/TV

• In the Heat of the Night (1967)
• Days of Heaven (1978)
• Fargo (1996)
• The Night of the Hunter (1955)
• Over the Garden Wall (2014)
• Sinners (2025)
• No Country For Old Men (2007)
• Midnight Mass (2021)
• Synecdoche, New York (2008)
• The Rehearsal (TV series)

GAMES

• Alan Wake (2012) + Alan Wake: American Nightmare (2012) - Pacific Northwest Gothic
• South of Midnight (2025) - Southern Gothic
• Backroads TTRPG (https://backwards-tabletop.itch.io/backroads) (2022) - Midwest Gothic Horror
• Oxenfree (2016)
• Kentucky Route Zero (2013)
• The Wolf Among Us (2013)
• Night in the Woods (2017)
• Echo (https://echoproject.itch.io/echo)(2019)
• Norco (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1221250/NORCO/)(2022)

AMERICANA-TINTED GAMES BY THE HOSTS

• (18+)Postcard from Brentville (https://killjill.itch.io/postcardfrombrentville)by KillJill
• The Scenic Route (https://porksbun.itch.io/the-scenic-route) by Porksbun
• (18+) MURDERPLANT (https://fisheranimal.itch.io/murderplant) by Fisher
• nice clean desk (https://rombuffer.itch.io/nice-clean-desk) by rombuffer