“The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever is a story centered around the couple, Jim and Irene Westcott. The story is about a radio that Jim purchases for Irene, that can pick up their neighbors’ conversations. This story does have gothic elements involved in it such as the suspense and tension that are built through the couple’s experience with the mysterious radio. This radio changes Irene’s perception of her own relationships causing her to develop trust issues and paranoia. The radio is a supernatural sort of object which brings a suspenseful and mysterious mood to the story, just like an element that would exist in gothic fiction. The tension built throughout the story between the couple is also a similar element to the tone that would be present in gothic fiction.

The story doesn’t follow the entire formula of gothic literature however. There are elements missing such as the return to normalcy, the concept of a dream, and the scary setting. The couple doesn’t return to normal after their experience with the radio, far from that. Irene who was originally a normal and content women who began to feel paranoid and guilty after her obsession with the radio drove her to a change. The couple began to have a rift in their relationship because of problems that didn’t exist before the radio had taken a toll on Irene. The concept of a dream or illusion isn’t present either since everything that occurs in the story is happening in the realm of reality that the characters belong to and are aware of. The setting is also normal and not special or scary like it normally would be in gothic fiction. The story does contain elements that are relevant in gothic literature, but is also missing several important elements that would identify a story as gothic fiction.