Compare the ways Dickens and Wells create suspense and tension in their stories, 'The Signalman' and 'The Red Room'. Use your knowledge of other mystery stories of the era to demonstrate effective techniques.

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Compare the ways Dickens and Wells create suspense and tension in their stories, ‘The Signalman’ and ‘The Red Room’. Use your knowledge of other mystery stories of the era to demonstrate effective techniques.

        

Charles Dickens and H.G Wells have written a pre twentieth century story. Both stories needed suspense and tension to make the story successful and to have the effect that the author wanted. ‘The Signalman’ by Dickens is a ghost story and could be a mystery; ‘The Red Room’ by Wells is also a ghost story and can also be a mystery story. I will compare both of these stories and decide which has the best impact on the reader, with the tension and suspense building up, for the reader in the pre twentieth century and the reader today. Also I will be referring to other pre twentieth century stories, on how they have built up tension and suspense.

‘The Red Room’ by H.G Wells is about a young man who says he is not scared of any thing and will go up to the red room. It is said that the red room of Lorraine castle is where the young duke had died and now it is haunted. All the old people that live in Lorraine castle warn him not to go up there but say “it is your own choosing.” The young man says he will go up to the red room to find out if it is haunted, but he actually doesn’t believe in ghosts. The main part in the story is about his journey to the room and what happens in the room. It’s not till the end that you find out what it is in the room.

‘The Signalman’ by Charles Dickens is a story of great mystery. The two main characters are the narrator and the signalman. You get to know a lot of information about the signalman’s background and what he does today and how his life is. The signalman keeps seeing a spectre saying, ‘Bellow there, look out, look out’ the narrator becomes suspicious of him and realises something is wrong when he shouts out ‘halloa bellow there’ and then signalman looks down the line instead of up at him. In this story the signalman gets to know the narrator and tells him about the experiences he has had with the spectre, and how an accident has occurred after seeing the spectre.

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        On a railway track is where ‘The Signalman’ is set. A railway track is where a lot of people today go, so you wouldn’t think it could be scary. Right from the start of ‘The Signalman’ you get the impression that it is a dull and solitary place, the quotations “extremely deep”, “oozier and wetter”, “lonesome post to occupy” and “lower shadows” all give out that exact impression. This adds even more tension because you think why is it so dismal? All of this is typical for the genre because it is a mystery and a ghost story, so it ...

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