Compare and Contrast two Pre C20th Short Stories which are Good Examples of the Genre of Horror.

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Compare and Contrast two Pre C20th Short Stories which are Good Examples of the Genre of Horror. Explain why this is so.

The Oxford dictionary defines horror as, "A strong feeling of alarm, dismay and disgust" horror is also a style of writing. Horror writing started in the early ages as short stories to scare young children into bed. This has now developed into more sophisticated and terrifying tales that are written by thousands of writers worldwide. These stories all have one intention and that is to deliberately scare the reader.

For this essay I have been studying two short classic horror stories called 'The Signalman' and 'A Confession found in a Prison at the Time of Charles the Second' both written by Charles Dickens. All horror stories are written to a formula consisting of a few basic ingredients (suspense, creaky floorboards, blood and many others) these two are no different. This is done because it's a working formula and when we watch a horror film we know what to look for as it scares us. We may want to be scared but are only done so I recognizable limits.

'The Signalman' is set in England in the mid 19th Century. The whole story revolves around a small stretch of railway track. This main area can be split up into several different smaller locations. There is a small hut; the entrance to a nearby tunnel; and the bank leading down to the track. The setting changes towards the end of the story as ninety percent of the tale takes place in the dark: "... a gloomy red light and the gloomier entrance to a black tunnel"; the dramatic finale takes place in broad daylight, "the daylight was now above me". The atmospheric setting is extremely important to the story at it adds a large amount of atmosphere by giving specific detail when describing surroundings:

"On either side, a dripping- wet wall of jagged

stone, excluding all view but a strip of sky;

the perspective one way only a crooked prolongation

of this great dungeon"

The typical elements of horror now come into view. Surroundings characters seem shrouded in grim darkness (...that he dark sallow man, with a dark beard...his post was in a solitary and dismal place as ever I saw") are very common. Even ghosts and spirits (...I don't know I never saw its face... the right arm violently waved) make an appearance. All the elements when mixed together in this way make a perfect mixture for suspense even before anything has 'happened'. Horror is very scary when written like this.
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The second story (A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second) is set in several different places. It all starts from a prison cell by as it progresses we find other locations like Nimeguen and a house which can be also broken down into, bedroom, garden, lake that runs through the garden and various other minor rooms and corridors. The setting changes from being friendly and inviting to being horrible and unforgiving. The setting is important to the story as the narrator fighting in Nimeguen, "...lieutenant's commission in his majesty's army and served ...

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