All gothic short stories need to have an interesting start that makes the reader want to look deeper into the book. In “The Body Snatcher” by Robert Louis Stevenson the narrator starts the story off as if he is retelling a past event. “Every night in the year, four of us sat in the small parlour of the George at Debenham – the undertaker, the landlord, Fettes and myself.” This immediately sets the scene and tells us that the narrator is a main character in the story. The story quickly gets into action as the meeting between Fettes and Doctor Macfarlane turns very sour. “I always wondered if there were a god; I now know there is none. Be gone!” This fills the reader with excitement, and they want to read on so they can find out what happened in the past for the two characters to resent one another this much. Openings like this generate a large amount of suspense, in order to keep the reader interested, and thinking about what is going to happen next. Gothic stories often start by describing the weather; this usually includes references to darkness, cold, mist, fog and bad weather, e.g. “One dark winter night”, this adds eeriness and sets it up as being a gothic story. “The Red Room” by H.G. Wells starts with the main character in a room full of old people, these people are there to add suspense to the story, and make the story seem spookier. For instance one old man is described only as “the man with the withered arm”, the old woman just looks directly into the fire and nowhere else and the second mans eyes are covered by a shade. With all this information the reader knows that if they were there, they would be on edge even before they entered “The Red Room”. In “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” the start does not sound like a gothic story at all, unlike the pervious two stories, it does not aim at making suspense or tension but describes past cases and gives you some background information on the main characters before the reader gets into the story. It also talks about this one case in particular which the story is about, this makes the reader want to continue and find out more about it. So although not a traditional gothic short story opening, it is very effective at its job.
In gothic stories characters can be used very effectively to add suspense and tension. “The Red Room” is a very good example of this. “He supported himself by a single crutch, his eyes were covered by a shade, and his lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth” This character is described in great detail, using the vivid description the reader can picture the scene, and this revolting person, this also adds suspense and tension to the story because if the owners are in this state, you would expect worse things to come. In “The Body Snatcher” there is a detailed description of Dr Macfarlane, this portrays the character as a much more believable and real person to the reader, for example. “Dr Macfarlane was alert and vigorous. His white hair was set off his pale, although energetic, countenance. He was richly dressed in the finest of broadcloth and the whitest of linen, with a great gold watch chain and studs and spectacles of the same precious material. He wore a broad-folded tie, white and speckled with lilac, and he carried on his arm a comfortable driving coat of fur. He was a great contrast to our own drunken doctor – bald, dirty, pimpled and robed in his old cloak.” Using this information the reader can create a good image of what the character looked like, and the writer also uses it to contrast with the village’s own doctor very effectively. The Old man from “The Red Room” is a classic example of characters in Victorian gothic short stories. They believed that the villains looked different, dirty, unkempt etc.
The setting plays key part in gothic short stories, it is one of the main features to create suspense and tension. These setting use many ways to achieve their task. For instance they commonly include the use of the weather and light. In “The Body Snatcher” this is used very effectively. E.G. “When at last the blue flickering flame began to grow and shed a misty brightness around the cart, it became possible for the two young men to see each other and the thing they had with them. The rain had moulded the sacking to the outlines of the body underneath.” Most of this story is set in darkness and rain; this makes the story a lot more eerie and lets the ready know that it is a gothic story. In “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” the story is also set at night. E.G. “A moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand.” I think this is a very good sentence about the setting; it sets the scene, and tells the reader about the bad weather, which often gives the impression that bad things are soon to happen. Although “The Red Room” does not have such obvious references, as it is set inside, it still uses the setting very effectively. E.G. “I left the door wide open until the candle was well alight, and then I shut them in and walked down the chilly, echoing passage.” Although this is a very brief description it tells the ready exactly what the narrators surroundings are and gives a spooky effect.
In most gothic short stories the ending is usually the hero catching the villain or overcoming some kind of evil, or being left in an eerie cliff-hanger. The Red Room, The Body snatcher and The Adventure of the Speckled Band are brilliant examples of this. The Red room ends with the narrator realising what was really in the room, and telling the others the truth of the haunted room, raw fear. In The Adventure of the Speckled Band the story ends with the demise of the villain in the story, Dr Roylott. Sherlock Holmes saves the day by fighting off Dr Roylott’s Swamp Adder, which then turned on its master in anger. This type of ending is most common as the Victorian audience for which the stories were aimed at were in need of a hero, and to have their spirits lifted. The Body-Snatcher is a very good example of when cliff hangers are used in the stories, the audience is left with some scary thought, or wondering what will happen next, this type of ending is often far more effective than others in conjuring up fear in the reader.
I believe that some of the most important elements of a gothic short story are the following. The use of twists can possibly be one of the most effective tools used; this takes the reader by surprise, and can successfully inject an amount of excitement or fear into the story. Setting the stories in dark places can also be used to particularly good effect, especially if bad weather or the night is used. In my opinion, I believe The Body-snatcher is the best short story, as it seems far better at creating tension and suspense than the others, and fits the image of a typical gothic short story perfectly. It also used a cliff-hanger ending to great effect, revealing a character from earlier on in the story as the body they had just dug up. “Bearing with it, the sole occupant of the gig; the body of the dead and long-dissected Gray.” I also enjoy how the story starts with the two men aged, meeting in a pub many years after the events, which then sets about telling the reader as if from one of the men’s memory.