This sinister air of unrest is continued by the use of personification: “A monstrous shadow of him crouched upon the wall”. The word monstrous implies evil and emphasizes the second man’s vulgarity further as does the verb ‘jerked’ which suggests an unnatural movement, combined with the fact that the man has ‘red eyes’, Wells is able instantly to create fear and tension in the reader by making them feel uncomfortable.
Finally, Wells finishes setting the scene with the introduction of a woman who repeatedly comments; “(this night of all nights said the old woman)”. The author’s use of brackets emphasizes the importance of this statement by making the reader wonder what is wrong with this particular night, that the story is set on. By now Wells has well and truly set the story up without the reader or the main character even being in the Red Room! This use of direct speech as the characters converse, tells the reader all about the room without ever seeing it; “It’s your own choosing”. This short sentence suggests the impending doom of the main character if he goes into the room. Tension is complete and now only needs developing.
In contrast to Wells setting, Susan Hill, on the other hand creates tension in an entirely different way in “Farthing House” (through her own setting). Although Hill’s uses first person narrative as well, the start to her story is entirely different. Despite Well’s dramatic opening, the reader is instantly drawn to Hill’s story by being involved in her secret; “I have told you any of this before, I have told anyone”. This creates a personal tone totally different to Wells, who begins his story with direct speech, whereas Wells, sets his story through his characters, Hill uses description to build her tension; “And then a light wind blue suddenly across the grass……..and as I caught the smell of it, I remembered………”, this description is very intense – light and scuttling” – and it is her smell that activates her memory and leads her into this story with a greater sense of urgency, indeed the elipses act as a flashback and the reader is drawn into another world with Hills.
A world which is shrouded in misery – tension is created for the reader as soon as the woman recalls the central house; “I saw the house, the drive sweeping up to it…….late November afternoon, saw the red sun setting…..I was there all over again”. This description sets the scene as an unsavoury place to have been and it is at this point that the author switches tense to (past tense) in order to take the reader back to when she was going to Aunt Addy; The vivid description of the continuation of the woman’s travels to the house gets instantly mysterious and tense. “I had seen no other car since leaving the Cathedral”. “The car lights swept…….the shoulder of a grave stone. I slowed down” The fact the woman does not see many cars is unusual (but it is also a classic trait of a ghost story). As is the church and the gravestone. The author emphasizes the tension even more too, by using the short sentence “I slowed down” the reader naturally expects something to follow.
It does “Farthing House” comes into view and Hill’s emphasizes the tension associated with the house by putting the words “Farthing House” in high case letters. This, unlike Wells, Hill’s sets a scene that tells the story; whereas Wells’ story starts straight away in the middle of the action. However there are similarities in the two authors’ settings as well as differences.
A growing sense of unrest is transferred to the reader through Hill’s continued description; “but as I turned right and the road narrowed to a single track between trees, I began to feel nervous and anxious” this builds the reader’s anticipation through description and the woman’s feelings (before she has even got to the Farthing house). This is similar to ‘The Red Room’ which builds tension before the man gets to his legendary room - another common ghost story trait.
Although both authors mainly build tension differently through their settings, they do use similar techniques to develop their use of tension to higher and lower the reader’s expectations. For example, in several places, “The Red Room” raises the reader’s anticipation, only to disappoint them and leave their emotions hanging; “the long draughty, subterranean……and a shadow came sweeping up after me”. “The effect was scarcely what I expected…….everything was in its place”. As the passage described with such cold adjectives, the reader builds up a scary image of what the passage would look like in their minds and allow their suspicions to be raised by the shadow, only to find that their images and fears dispel on entry to the room, where it is described as normal. (At this point the people downstairs pose as more of a threat then the room, which was supposed to be scary!) However, the reader’s heartbeat is soon raised when the man sees “the impression of someone crouching to waylay me”. Being so close to the last high tension point, the reader’s heartbeat is like a poised rollercoaster, as their heartbeat is lowered when the man discovers that it is only a ‘Ganymede and Eagle’ glistening in the moonlight.
Wells uses this technique effectively to weave up his story, until the man really does come face to face with the ghost/his fears.
As Hill’s story is not as psychological as Wells’ the effect she achieves through her high and low tension points is slightly different. For example; “I was only over-shadowed by a curious sadness…….like a damp veil about my head and shoulders”. This high point works on a different level, unlike getting the feeling that something is going to jump out at you, as in Wells story, the reader is left with the feeling of dreariness and has to think harder about what is causing it, Hill’s works on your intellectual skills, as opposed to your heartbeat. As with Wells’ low points, the initial tension is brought down by normality; “But in fact once I was inside, I no longer noticed it at all……….a light spicy smell of baking”. As a reader here, you are totally pacified that everything is okay, this is exactly what the author wants, so that the technique can be used again and still make you think that something must happen soon. “I had the absolute clear sense that someone else had been in my room – not the hospital room of my dream, but this room in Farthing House”. Hill’s builds a high tension point again through the woman sensing another person in the room with her. At this point the reader is sure that the woman will see something this time. Yet again she doesn’t, the reader is given another plausible reason for her delusions; “all was as it had been when I had gone to sleep” – by raising and lowering the reader’s expectations in this way, the real shock of the story can be held off. In contrast to ‘The Red Room’ Hill’s tension points require imagination and thinking; whereas Wells’ tension point are clearly to give you a fright without much thought involved.
The final technique both authors use to create tension is language. The language used to describe the main characters’ encounters with their ghosts builds tension in a variety of different ways. Firstly, the ghost hunter’s interaction with his ghost in ‘The Red Room’ is highly doubtful. It is merely “the brooding expectation of the vigil” which leads him to believe there is a ghost in the room when really (as the twist turns out to be) it is his fear. Tension is built, however, by carefully crafting the man’s reaction to his fear. “I turned my head…..and saw that the candles…….were extinguished”. This builds tension because the reader is lead to believe there
Is a possibility that something sinister is going on, confirmed again by the quote “while I stood gasping, the candle at the end of the bed went out and the shadow seemed to take another step towards me”. What the man is really seeing is his own silhouette, but tension is produced by his reaction to it – clever.
“An invisible hand seemed to sweep out the two candles, with a cry of terror I dashed at the alcove……..it was like a ragged storm cloud, sweeping out the stars…….I was now almost frantic…..I leapt panting and disheveled from candle to candle in a vain struggle against that remorseless advance”. Again, tension is building dramatically here by several choice words. Although all that has happened is that a few candles have been blown out
by the word, Wells’ describes the scene in such a way as to make it seem like a genuine struggle. He uses verbs such as “sweep”, “dashed” and “panting” to create an insane fear and fast (“frantic”) pace to the section. His use of war metaphor “struggle” and “advance” suggests he is actually fighting someone too, however he is not! In reality he is fighting only his fear of the dark and the myth surrounding the room itself. He uses a carefully placed simile too, to compare the darkness to a storm cloud, helping the reader to understand his blind panic. Furthermore the pace and tension is enhanced by the words “rushed”, “thrust”, “flungs” and “staggered” until the man trips in the doorway and knocks himself out. The story is resolved with the man waking up to the care of the custodians and the delivery of the twist – that is that “There is fear in that room of hers – black fear”. At last, the tension is released and there is closure on what was in the room! – Fear. Through his language Wells’ has cleverly manipulated the reader’s emotions until the tales resolutions are complete.
In comparison, to the frantic way in which Wells’ delivers his encounter with the ghost, Hill’s prefers a quieter approach to her tale. Unlike Wells’ pace, Hill’s is very gradual; “I had the sensation of someone having just been in my room. Now, I saw her”. Tension is built here in an odd way, as the main character does not appear afraid of the situation, in contract to “The Red Room”. Instead she describes her surroundings and it is this description which builders the reader’s alarm (if not hers). “The room felt horribly cold”, “she seemed to be crying…..I felt inconsolably hopeless and sad”. The use of the words “cold” and “sad” build an air of depression around the woman, yet unlike the main in “The Red Room” who runs away from his fear, the woman is intrigued and follows her. “I half run to catch her up”; “the young woman had one”. Strangely Hill’s situation/encounter is not resolved straight away – a different tension is used (withdrawal of information), to keep the reader hooked. The woman’s resolution comes gradually in two stages; firstly, she finds a gravestone marking the death of “Eliza Maria Dolly…and also her infant daughter” which sets the woman wondering about their connection with “Farthing House” in the old days – it turns out it was for fallen women! The final stage of her resolution and the twist to the story is that she did indeed see/feel a ghost; the ghost of a young woman who last a baby and stole another to replace it, so it was her melancholy residing in the room! (dissimilar to the twist by Wells). At last this tension is dropped and understanding is gained! Hills’ has gained tension through feelings and careful unraveling, whereas Wells has built tension through key words and a frantic pace.
In conclusion, both stories successfully use setting, structure and language to build tension, although the techniques are similar, however, often the effects have proved to be different – probably because the main plots are so very different.