History Gaslighting / Literature

** ** In "The Adventure of the Circular Room", the villain uses a specially constructed room in an attempt to drive his aunt--who was recently released from a sanitarium--to relapse into insanity so he can keep control of her fortune. he rotates the circular room while she is asleep so it looks completely different when she wakes up,and then returns it to normal before she can return with anyone to verify her claim.

* ''Literature/DungeonCrawlerCarl'': PlayedForLaughs. In the sixth book, the team is joined by a summon based ''very'' poorly off Jesus Christ, named [[KungFuJesus Uzi Jesus]]. Among many other problems, he will occasionally insist that he has already done what they asked, and that they just don't understand how his powers work. Such as claiming that he already resurrected another summon, despite it being quite apparent that the summon is still dead. Eventually, Donut gets fed up.
-->'''Donut:''' DON'T GASLIGHT ME, JESUS!

!!By Author:
* Creator/AgathaChristie:
** ''Literature/ThirdGirl'' has Norma, the titular girl, believing herself to have murdered someone after having vivid memories of appearing at the crime scene. [[spoiler:It turns out that the murderer (the man [[DeadPersonImpersonation pretending to be her father]]) and his accomplice (Norma's roommate) have been feeding her drugs and taking her to the crime scene to make her come to this conclusion. They do it again in the climax, this time placing her by the body with a knife in her hand. The imposter even has a portrait painted of himself in the same style as one of Norma's mother to make the impersonation more convincing to everyone else, no matter how much Norma insists that the man is not her father.]]
** In the short story "The Cretan Bull" from her ''Literature/TheLaboursOfHercules'' collection, Literature/HerculePoirot investigates the apparent mental breakdown of the almost-wedded son of a navy officer. [[spoiler:Turns out that the officer, whose madness runs in the family, was trying to drive the young man insane (helped by an interesting use of a drug -- [[WriteWhatYouKnow probably thanks to Christie's background as a pharmacist]] -- spiking his shaving lotion with belladonna eyedrops, which soothe the eyes but are poisonous and psychoactive if ingested), in order to get revenge on the family friend who had an affair with his wife and is in fact the guy's real father. He wants to convince him that he's AxeCrazy and murderous, to [[DrivenToSuicide drive him to suicide.]] Since he isn't the Admiral's son, he doesn't have his madness, and everything [[HappyEnding ends all right.]] ([[MoodWhiplash Though]] [[LaserGuidedKarma interestingly,]] [[ThereAreNoTherapists the officer himself]] [[DrivenToSuicide doesn't survive all of this]].)]]
** In ''Literature/ACaribbeanMystery'' the murderer is revealed to have [[spoiler:poisoned his wife's cosmetics to make her hallucinate and appear insane to others and herself. This is so that it'll look more convincing when he kills her and [[NeverSuicide makes it look like a suicide.]]]]
** In ''Literature/SleepingMurder'', Gwenda's father Major Halliday is revealed to have committed himself to a mental home out of fear that he killed his wife. In reality, [[spoiler: his doctor/brother-in-law killed her and convinced the major that he murdered her during a psychotic episode, which he believed due to having been drugged and manipulated by the doctor for a long time.]]

!!By Title:

%%* The way Christian treats Ana in ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' has strong [[IncrediblyLamePun shades of this]].

* ''Literature/SolarPons'': In "The Adventure of the sealed Spire", a country rector approaches Pons after being subjected to a series of malicious pranks designed to make him appear to be going insane, such as hiding his slippers in his secretary's typewriter and [[DeadAnimalWarning murdering a friend's cat and planting the corpse in the rector's holdall]].

%% * Used on the main character as a worthiness test in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''.

** ''Third Girl'' has Norma, the titular girl, believing herself to have murdered someone after having vivid memories of appearing at the crime scene. [[spoiler:It turns out that the murderer (the man [[DeadPersonImpersonation pretending to be her father]]) and his accomplice (Norma's roommate) have been feeding her drugs and taking her to the crime scene to make her come to this conclusion. They do it again in the climax, this time placing her by the body with a knife in her hand. The imposter even has a portrait painted of himself in the same style as one of Norma's mother to make the impersonation more convincing to everyone else, no matter how much Norma insists that the man is not her father.]]
** In one of her short stories that were part of the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Labors of Hercules]] cycle, the Cretan Bull, Literature/HerculePoirot investigates the apparent mental breakdown of the almost-wedded son of a navy officer. [[spoiler:Turns out that the officer, whose madness runs in the family, was trying to drive the young man insane (helped by an interesting use of a drug -- [[WriteWhatYouKnow probably thanks to Christie's background as a pharmacist]] -- spiking his shaving lotion with belladonna eyedrops, which soothe the eyes but are poisonous and psychoactive if ingested), in order to get revenge on the family friend who had an affair with his wife and is in fact the guy's real father. He wants to convince him that he's AxeCrazy and murderous, to [[DrivenToSuicide drive him to suicide.]] Since he isn't the Admiral's son, he doesn't have his madness, and everything [[HappyEnding ends all right.]] ([[MoodWhiplash Though]] [[LaserGuidedKarma interestingly,]] [[ThereAreNoTherapists the officer himself]] [[DrivenToSuicide doesn't survive all of this]].)]]

* ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth'': The protagonist, Harrow, already has a habit of hallucinating people who aren't there. Just after she admits this to [[PoisonousFriend Ianthe,]] she finds a corpse under her bed: when she asks Ianthe if there's anything under there, Ianthe says no, confused. As it turns out, both girls saw the corpse. Ianthe just lied about it to make Harrow more vulnerable.

%% * Used on the main character as a worthiness test in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''.
* In ''Literature/TimeAndAgain'', one of the criteria used in choosing a time-traveller was to see how he reacted to apparently reason-defying events: he responded rationally and soon figured out how the testers had tricked him.
* Whether it was his intent or not, Literature/{{Dracula}} did this to Jonathan Harker while he had Harker imprisoned in his castle. Harker was convinced he'd hallucinated the whole thing for a ''long'' time afterward. By the end of his stay, not only is Jonathan a psychological wreck but he's practically become nocturnal to match the Count's own sleeping habits.

* Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Literature/TheTwits'' was all about this -- the titular dysfunctional couple [[EscalatingPrankWar do it to each other to begin with]] (for example, adding a small segment to the bottom of a walking stick every day to make the wife think she's shrinking), and have it spectacularly turned on them at the end ([[spoiler:they're tricked into gluing themselves to the floor, and end up shrinking down into nothing in their efforts to get themselves unstuck]]).
* In ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants,'' George and Harold do this to their science teacher, [[PunnyName Mr. Fyde,]] by making animal noises very quietly and then denying that they heard anything.
* A ''Radio/TheVinylCafe'' short story recounts how a Chinese restaurant owner using this managed to get [[AssholeVictim a bigoted regular customer]] to slowly feel more and more subconsciously uncomfortable and to stop coming there on his own. Over the course of a year, he slowly increased the portions that the customer received a spoonful at a time, shortened his chair with a file, and changed a painting that he liked to look at while he ate a brushstroke at a time (it used to be a summer scene, and it was turned to a winter scene by the end).
* In the Creator/VCAndrews standalone, ''Literature/MySweetAudrina'', [[spoiler:Audrina's whole family engages in gaslighting (particularly to fake the passage of time), leading her to believe she is someone else after her rape]].

* In ''[[Literature/DreamscapeVoyagerTrilogy Skies of the Empire]]'', Zayne imposes himself on a vulnerable-looking man and insists he's the man's nephew in order to steal archived blueprints. After deflecting answers about himself and plying the man with booze, he seems to fall for it. [[spoiler:He actually just starts going along with the ruse until he can suss out what Zayne wants from him]], but the ease with which Zayne and Nanette execute the plan suggests they've done it before.

* This is part of a sub-plot in ''Literature/TheFearIndex'' where [[spoiler:the computer program VIXAL-4]] has been using his bank accounts to buy things, using his e-mail to contact people, even [[spoiler:hacking into his doctor's notes and using little bits of that to get a guy to break into his house and murder him.]]

* In ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'', Tom insists they do this as part of his infamous and [[ComplexityAddiction unnecessarily convoluted]] scheme to rescue Jim the "proper" way. He and Huck hide spoons while Aunt Sally counts them, and then replace them when she tries to re-count, as well as sending mysterious threatening messages.
* A textbook example occurs in a YA novel by Steven Oftinoski that reads in some ways like an homage to ''Film/TheScreamingSkull'', right down to its name -- ''The Shrieking Skull''. A reclusive widow is being tormented with visions of a skull and recorded screams to make her think she's being haunted by the ghost of her long-dead [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] lover. This is so that she can be declared insane and put in a mental hospital, thus paving the way for the sale of her old mansion to a greedy developer, a sale that will make the gaslighter rich. [[spoiler:It's her seemingly kindly doctor.]] The plot is only exposed when the KidDetective starts investigating and the gaslighter, afraid they will be discovered, tries to scare him away with the skull, thus proving it isn't all in her head.

* Used as a roundabout method of murder in ''Literature/IClaudius'', where Claudius' superstitious brother Germanicus is tormented to death by a variety of inexplicable occurrences. The culprit? [[spoiler:His young son [[UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} Caligula]], who got in touch with his inner psycho very early on.]]
* A profoundly important aspect of ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', it is taken to the absolute extreme, with every aspect of the past being constantly altered and treated as if it had never been altered, with dissent to this process punishable by the Ministry of Love.
* ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', also by George Orwell, shows Squealer the pig engaging in gaslighting in order to manipulate the other animals. The most striking example of this is how he alters the Seven Commandments written on the barn wall: "no animal shall kill another animal ''without cause",'' "no animal shall sleep in a bed ''with sheets,"'' and so on. As few of the other animals can read and even fewer can write, no-one contradicts him.
* ''Literature/HushHush''. In the first book, Patch does this to Nora, using his angelic powers to trick her into hearing his voice in her head and making her hallucinate certain things. He also makes it so that Nora is the only person who can see or hear him, so she looks like she's crazy when she talks to him.
%% ** In ''Crescendo'', [[spoiler:Rixon]] does exactly the same thing to Nora.
* The parody book ''An Alien's Guide to the X-Files'' suggested this strategy for aliens so that their abductees would not be believed, Mulder would constantly be distracted, and Scully would be driven insane. The suggested plan for Scully was to secretly sneak into her home at night, raise the countertops and shelves, replace her furniture with something just slightly larger, and take in the seams on her clothes to convince her she was shrinking ''and'' gaining weight.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''
** Roose Bolton doesn't let not knowing what a gaslight is stop him from using this trope. What he does to Jaime and Brienne over a dinner/ meeting/ condescending debriefing in Harrenhal has ''very'' strong shades of it, for all it was just over ''one'' meal. The selection of an ill-fitting, horrible dress for Brienne (who is well aware that she's not considered attractive), the hard-to-cut food, the top-heavy goblet, and the cutlery provided for Jaime [[spoiler:(who recently lost his dominant hand)]]? Not an accident. And, all tailored to hit both of their egos in some ''very'' tender places, make them uneasy... and [[{{Troll}} just to]] [[ItAmusedMe amuse him]], while he puts forward his version of events with [[BlatantLies no spin and no underlying threats or power-plays whatsoever]]. The thought of staying with him for a month when he's got no particular reason to be good to you should, [[OhCrap rightly]], [[SoftSpokenSadist make your skin crawl]].
** Tywin Lannister has spent pretty much all of Tyrion's life trying to convey how much of a useless disappointment he (and society at large) finds his son to be. And, Tyrion has internalized a lot of the less-than-subtle digs (from assigning him to dangerous, demeaning or both positions to [[spoiler:the very horrible "[[PrankDate prank]]" pulled on both Tyrion and his actual ''daughter-in-law'', Tysha]]), being utterly convinced that people will only ever follow him for money.

* In the ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Palace of the Red Sun'', the Sixth Doctor basically inflicts such a fate on Protector Glavis Judd, a ruthless conqueror who has spent his own career manipulating others by causing problems on other worlds so that he can step in and 'save' the people from their supposedly corrupt rulers. After the Doctor is able to send Judd five hundred years into his own future, he's dismissed as a lunatic who just thinks he's Glavis Judd and is sent to an asylum with others who share that delusion. Judd is last shown no longer sure of his own identity in the face of so many other people proclaiming they're him.
* In Jeramey Kraatz's ''Literature/TheCloakSociety'', after Alex sees several people in a place where they shouldn't be, and then nothing is there, he fears he's going mad. [[spoiler:Turns out that one of his foes is a shapeshifter.]]
* In [[Creator/RLStine R.L. Stine]]'s ''The Best Friend'', one of Honey's main tactics in driving Becka up the wall is stealing her stuff and saying Becka let her keep them.
%% * The way Christian treats Ana in ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' has strong [[IncrediblyLamePun shades of this.]]
* ''Literature/JoePickett'': The bad guys in ''Out of Range'' uses drugs and psychological trickery to turn game warden Will Jensen's depression into paranoia, which ultimately [[DrivenToSuicide drives him to suicide]]. They attempt to do the same thing to Joe when he takes over the post.
* In ''Literature/MrMercedes'', [[spoiler:Brady]], while ostensibly "fixing" the victim's computer, uses this to drive [[spoiler:Olivia]] to suicide. The offender had stolen the victim's car to drive it into a crowd of people, then rigged the victim's computer to play voices masquerading as those who died in this attack.
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Imp uses [[PerceptionFilter her ability]] to terrify people by misplacing or stealing their things, moving their furniture, giving them small cuts that they don't remember getting, and so on.
* In the Creator/MaryHigginsClark novel ''Remember Me'', a couple goes away for the summer to recuperate from the death of their young son. However, the woman is relentlessly plagued by nightmares, flashbacks, and hallucinations about the accident in which he was killed (and she was driving the car, leaving her with considerable SurvivorGuilt as well). Her husband insists that she needs to be confined to a mental hospital, but he turns out to be a RedHerring. His concern, while overbearing, was genuine. It turns out that the culprit is his ex-girlfriend, who's trying to drive her insane to the point of killing herself so that she can get him back. The nightmares have been induced by the sounds of the accident and a child's crying being piped into the house--the reader might recall at some point that the ex is a real estate agent and that it was she who "kindly" found the house for them.
* In ''Literature/TheAmyVirus'', Cyan's parents do this to make her conform to their rules. Cyan's friend Renate even refers to [[Film/{{Gaslight}} the trope namer]] when she points it out to her.
* In the novel ''Literature/KindOfCruel'', in keeping with one of the major themes concerning the difference between memories and stories, Jo frequently gaslights Amber, her sister-in-law by being chummy with her one moment, viciously lashing out at her the next, then snapping back to normal and acting like nothing unpleasant transpired at all. Amber herself even notes Jo tends to do this when nobody else is around, making it even harder for Amber to be sure if Jo's behaviour was real or imagined.
* In ''Great Black Kanba'' by Constance & Gwyneth Little, the heroine suspects this is being done to wealthy "Uncle Joe" as all of the incidents that make him look like his sanity is slipping could also be the result of deliberate action. [[spoiler:Uncle Joe also realizes this, but having committed murder for reasons unrelated to the gaslighting, exploits the incidents as part of an InsanityDefense. The book ends before we learn if this was successful.]]
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmesAndDoctorWasNot'': In "The Adventure of the Madman", Moriarty sprinkles powdered Devil Foot Root on the wood Dr. Seward is burning to heat his asylum: hoping to send the doctor mad so no one will ever believe there was a patient called 'M'.
* ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth'': The protagonist, Harrow, already has a habit of hallucinating people who aren't there. Just after she admits this to [[PoisonousFriend Ianthe,]] she finds a corpse under her bed: when she asks Ianthe if there's anything under there, Ianthe says no, confused. As it turns out, both girls saw the corpse. Ianthe just lied about it to make Harrow more vulnerable.
* Used on the ''reader'' in ''Well of Ascension'', the second book in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy''. Sazed discovers an ancient Terris document carved in metal, and makes a rubbing, not knowing that [[spoiler:the god Ruin can alter any text not written on metal. Ruin subtly changed the details in the prophesy to make it look like it was coming true]]. That's not the gaslighting part, though, just manipulation. The trick is played on the reader in the [[spoiler:quotes in the chapter header. The quotes are from the genuine article, but many appear out of context long before the cast discusses the doctored version, to give the reader a sense of unease. For example, one header says the writer was struck by the hero Alendi's stature and how he towered over others, but the doctored version claims that he was struck by his small stature and the fact that he could still tower over others]].
* Elizabeth from ''Literature/MiracleCreek'' has attacks of rage every few weeks that involve hurting Henry in some way, like pinching or scratching him. Afterwards, she matter-of-factly tells him that he was hurt in some other way, like [[CutHimselfShaving being scratched by the neighbor's nonexistent cat]], and watches his eyes dart back and forth as he tries to figure out which version to believe. If she repeats her lies often enough, Henry will forget what really happened.
* In one ''Literature/SisterFidelma'' story, a farmer witnesses attacks on his farm that are denied by his wife and neighbor. Their intention is to have him declared ''mer'', insane, so that they can control the silver mine he unwittingly owns. His nervous manner and appearance mean that the local chieftains don't take him seriously.
* In the ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'' novel ''Literature/TheFacelessOldWomanWhoSecretlyLivesInYourHome'', the title character manipulates people's surroundings, especially her "favourite", Chad in order to...persuade Chad to settle down, get married, and have children. Of course, her reasons for wanting him to do that are not particularly benevolent either.
* ''Literature/WhereTheDrownedGirlsGo'': The Whitehorn BoardingSchoolOfHorrors tells students that their experiences TrappedInAnotherWorld aren't real, punishes them for disagreeing, and doesn't let them graduate until they truly believe it. The students enforce this on each other, too, calling Cora's MarkOfTheSupernatural fake against all evidence.
* In ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'', this is one of the tactics that John and Isabella Thrope use to try manipulating Catherine. They insist that Catherine has promised them everything from a dance to a carriage ride to ''marrying John'' and then accuse her of either having a poor memory or lying herself when she protests.