Read the excerpt from "The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture."
How was this vile nervous fit, for such I now persuaded myself it was, to be conquered? I determined to force myself not to look at the painting but to undress quickly and get into bed. I began to undress, but in spite of every effort I could not keep myself from stealing a glance every now and then at the picture; and a glance was now sufficient to distress me. Even when my back was turned to it, the idea of this strange face behind me, peering over my shoulder, was insufferable.
How does the excerpt exemplify Gothic fiction?

This excerpt from Washington Irving's The Adventure of the Mysterious Picture exemplifies Gothic fiction by referring to the feelings of terror, nervousness and morbid curiosity that the character is experiencing after having noticed a portrait painting located over the mantelpiece in the room where he is spending the night. The painting is exerting such a powerful effect on him that his imagination is running wild, and he is believing, in spite of the irrationality of his thought, that the sitter is actually looking at him, which scares him and distresses him. Placing the characters in a dangerous and/or mysterious situation, whether it is real or imaginary, is also a characteristic of Gothic fiction.