The early horror stories were mainly based upon superstitions and the fear of the unknown. These superstitions were fabricated by man so as to give reason and meaning to things happening around them. A good example of superstition is shown in “The superstitious mans story” where a miller moth flies out of William’s open mouth and that to them symbolised his spirit leaving his body. This is superstition because science has proven since 1894 when the story was written that death does not occur due to moths leaving your body.
An important aspect of the horror story is its setting the atmosphere that the writer creates which often appears in the opening line and almost always incorporates darkness, loneliness and vulnerability. “Night Fears” is a good example it is set in the dark, the night watchman is all alone and he is vulnerable as the compound is only surrounded by boundaries. The darkness also makes the stranger seem a threat as he appears out of nowhere and disappears as if he were dust. The truly ingenious idea about “Night Fears” by L.P Hartley is that he allows you to build up a picture of the stranger with his back to the man which is much more effective than describing him as a man with blood covered horns coming out of his head and a dark red menacing face.
Both stories conform well to the criteria for a successful horror story “A Superstitious Mans Story” does not conform to the horror genre because it does not have the right setting or atmosphere. The only horror aspect is the miller moth, which symbolizes Williams’s soul. “Night Fears” conforms much more to the horror genre because it has the coke – brazier which symbolizes the night watchman’s will to live, the fact that it is dark and cold, the fact that the night watchman is on his own and the mysterious presence of the dark stranger.
“A superstitious man’s story” does contain many references to superstition and the supernatural, for example the miller moth coming out of Williams mouth, the bell feeling heavy in the sextons hand which symbolises a death in the parish, William’s soul seen entering the church and William being spotted by the river before he died which is the exact place where his son died.
In Thomas Hardy’s day (born 1894) the whole horror story concept was based on every day fears and superstitions are shown extensively in his short story named “A Superstitious Man’s Story,” where William’s presence seemed to felt by people, “William as you may know, was a curious, silent man; you could feel when he came near’ee.” This seemed supernatural and in the early 18th Century would most certainly have been thought of as very scary. In the 18th Century there was no chance of being able to put across how scary a character was because television had not yet been invented and it was difficult to portray a character as terrifying just by describing them physically, so it was often found that the writer would leave it to the reader to build up a picture and instead would just describe what sort of personality the character had which was much more effective. A good example of this is seen in “A Superstitious Man’s Story” where Thomas Hardy describes William not physically but by his personality, “William as you may know, was a curious, silent man; you could feel when he came near’ee and if he was in the house or anywhere behind your back without your seeing him, there seemed to be something clammy in the air, as if a cellar door was opened close to your elbow.” In describing him in this way you imagine him as someone who is quiet and mysterious. In modern day horror there is not as much to do with the supernatural and mysterious but more to do with fictional man made characters like Dracula, the Devil and Aliens this is simply because as time passed the horror genre developed immensely and it soon became possible technologically to make better and more intense horror films. Hardy did not base his stories on these sorts of characters but rather more on his experience of his own village and the superstitions and mystical beliefs that go with it.
Both stories are still quite effective considering they were written so long ago. It is most likely that the stories were much more frightening in the time in which they were written, as they tended to write about superstitions that people believed in this is mostly because people mostly lived in isolated villages and based their horror stories on the superstitions that surround the village. In my opinion “Night Fears” is more effective than “A Superstitious Man’s Story” because it shows how powerful the element of manipulation is, this is seen in the story when the stranger constantly comments on his family and how with inflation he soon will not be able to support them and his work mates and how they conveniently forgot to get him coke to keep him warm through the night. In my opinion the mysterious stranger is portrayed as the Devil. I assume this because he does not show his face, he seems to know much more about the night watchman than he has told him, he appears and disappears and he does not seem bothered or concerned about the night watchman’s dead body. I think that “A Superstitious Man’s Story” is not as effective simply because it is all based on far fetched superstitions which have now been proven by science as being completely wrong; for example the miller moth flying out of William’s mouth symbolizes his soul leaving his body, although I think that it is well written and very mysterious I far prefer “Night Fears” as an effective horror story.
The authors intention for writing “A Superstitious Man’s Story” was for entertainment value intended to be used for fun while travelling, as it was published in a book named “Tales for Travellers.” This type of story is typical of a travellers story as it is short, mysterious and easy to remember this type of story was usually passed on by word of mouth.
L.P Hartley’s intention was to scare people, but also it may be a portrayal of his emotions, which was also the case for Edgar Allan Poe who was a manic-depressive.
