'The Monkey's Paw' and 'The Red Room' are both horror stories written in the nineteenth century. 'The Red Room' is a psychological horror story, which deals with fear and tension and 'The Monkey's Paw' is a factual horror story, which deals with mystery and death. Both authors set out to frighten the reader, but do it in very different ways.
In 'The Red Room' we know straight away that it is about a man who is going to go into a haunted red room. An old man had told him about a woman who had been murdered in this room, and people don't know if it is haunted by her or by her husband. The old man had been advised by three weird people not to go into the red room as it is haunted. The old man said, "the three of them made me feel uncomfortable, with their gaunt silences, their bent carriage, their evident unfriendliness to me and to one another". The man didn't agree with the old man. He was determined to find out what was in the red room, and find out what it was haunted by. The man asked the old man to show him to this red room, the old man was in shock he couldn't believe that the man wanted to go into the red room. "Tonight of all nights" he said. The old man decided to show him to the red room, but he wasn't going to go with him. "There's a candle on the slab outside the door, you go along the passage for a bit, until you come to a door, and through that is a spiral staircase, and half-way up that is a landing and another door covered with baize". The man had a plan the plan was that when he got inside the Red Room he would light the room so that he could see what was happening. The man got to the room and walked in. "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", said the man. The man pushed the baize-covered door and stood in the corridor. Everything was in its place. The door to the red room and the steps up to it were in a shadowy corner. The man opened the door and went in the room. A feeling of horror is created by the shadowy window bays, the recesses and alcoves. One could well understand the legend that had sprouted in its black corners, its germinating darkness. The man was looking round the room, peering round each article of furniture, tucking up the valances of the bed, and opening its curtains wide. He pulled the blinds and examined the fastenings of the several windows before closing the shutters. He leant forward and looked up the blackness of the wide chimney, and tapped the dark oak panelling for any secret opening. There were two big mirrors in the room, each with a pair of scones bearing candles and on the mantelshelf too were more candles in china candlesticks. The man lit one after the other. The room was very bright. It was after midnight that the candle in the alcove suddenly went out. His first match would not strike, and as he succeeded with the second, something seemed to blink on the wall before him. The two candles on the little table by the fireplace were extinguished. The man walked across the room to the fireplace and relit one of the candles and suddenly it went out. All of a sudden candles started going out one at a time until the whole room was pitch dark. The man was now almost frantic with fear of the darkness and his self-possession deserted him. He bruised him self on the thigh against the table, he sent a chair headlong; he stumbled and fell and whisked the cloth from the table in his fall. The man made a run for the door, he couldn't remember anything else.
In 'The Red Room' we know straight away that it is about a man who is going to go into a haunted red room. An old man had told him about a woman who had been murdered in this room, and people don't know if it is haunted by her or by her husband. The old man had been advised by three weird people not to go into the red room as it is haunted. The old man said, "the three of them made me feel uncomfortable, with their gaunt silences, their bent carriage, their evident unfriendliness to me and to one another". The man didn't agree with the old man. He was determined to find out what was in the red room, and find out what it was haunted by. The man asked the old man to show him to this red room, the old man was in shock he couldn't believe that the man wanted to go into the red room. "Tonight of all nights" he said. The old man decided to show him to the red room, but he wasn't going to go with him. "There's a candle on the slab outside the door, you go along the passage for a bit, until you come to a door, and through that is a spiral staircase, and half-way up that is a landing and another door covered with baize". The man had a plan the plan was that when he got inside the Red Room he would light the room so that he could see what was happening. The man got to the room and walked in. "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", said the man. The man pushed the baize-covered door and stood in the corridor. Everything was in its place. The door to the red room and the steps up to it were in a shadowy corner. The man opened the door and went in the room. A feeling of horror is created by the shadowy window bays, the recesses and alcoves. One could well understand the legend that had sprouted in its black corners, its germinating darkness. The man was looking round the room, peering round each article of furniture, tucking up the valances of the bed, and opening its curtains wide. He pulled the blinds and examined the fastenings of the several windows before closing the shutters. He leant forward and looked up the blackness of the wide chimney, and tapped the dark oak panelling for any secret opening. There were two big mirrors in the room, each with a pair of scones bearing candles and on the mantelshelf too were more candles in china candlesticks. The man lit one after the other. The room was very bright. It was after midnight that the candle in the alcove suddenly went out. His first match would not strike, and as he succeeded with the second, something seemed to blink on the wall before him. The two candles on the little table by the fireplace were extinguished. The man walked across the room to the fireplace and relit one of the candles and suddenly it went out. All of a sudden candles started going out one at a time until the whole room was pitch dark. The man was now almost frantic with fear of the darkness and his self-possession deserted him. He bruised him self on the thigh against the table, he sent a chair headlong; he stumbled and fell and whisked the cloth from the table in his fall. The man made a run for the door, he couldn't remember anything else.
