‘The Tell Tale Heart’ is located in a house that is probably old as a lantern is used by the narrator, this creates a scary atmosphere like the ‘Judges House’ because you cant see in the dark and you don’t know what is in the darkness so the reader imagines things that create the scary atmosphere, for example, the reader may imagine evil creatures emerging from the darkness, or someone suddenly jumping out from the dark surroundings.
‘The Signalman’ is located in a railway station that is isolated which is gloomy and dark. This creates an intimidating atmosphere because isolation makes the reader think why it is isolated and the darkness as I said before creates a scary atmosphere. Also it refers to the place as being a great dungeon which is a typical setting of a gothic horror story.
From the three stories I have read, the plot in the story was similar, it is really about good versus evil and because it’s a gothic horror story evil is supposed to win. ‘The Judges House’ it is about a person called Malcomson who moves into a old house because he wanted to get on with his studies he was doing, in this house Malcomson gets disturbed by rats, especially one rat that was bigger and looked evil. Then one day he was killed by the judge that haunted the house, who was in fact the bigger and evil rat. This is a typical gothic horror plot because the good is killed by the evil. I think Stoker wrote the story well because he always throughout the story created a scary and macabre atmosphere by using descriptive words baleful eyes to describe a thing such as the rat which would produce a frightening image in the readers mind. I think Stoker did this well because his usual style is horror. This is a typical gothic horror plot because the good is killed by the evil.
‘The Tell Tale Heart’ is about a crazy man who kills an old man because he didn’t like the old man’s eye. I think Poe wrote the plot as he did because his usual style is being a critic, so he put a bit of criticism in the story as the man killed the old man because he didn’t like his eye, he thought it resembled that of a vulture. This also is a typical gothic horror plot because the innocent person (the old man) is killed by the evil person (the crazy man).
‘The Signalman’ differs from ‘The Judges House’ and ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ because the evil doesn’t kill the good or innocent this time. ‘The Signalman’ is about a signalman who sees a ghost which warns him about something which is going to happen. The thing which the ghost warns the signalman about is his death, and then the signalman dies. This isn’t really a typical gothic horror plot. I think Dickens wanted to create a mystery in the story as well as horror because his usual style of writing is mystery and horror, so he put mystery in because he is use to it.
Characterisation plays a major part in all three gothic horror stories. In ‘The Judges House’ Malcomson is studying mathematics and people who study are thought to have a more mature approach to the supernatural, this is why he laughs when Mrs Dempster, the charwomen, warned him about mysterious ‘somethings’ I think Stoker chose this character because he would fit a typical character as he is a innocent and rational person, Stoker knows this because horror is his usual style of writing. Also Malcomson is a very intrigued in his studies, I think Stoker gave these characteristics in Malcomson because Stoker himself went to college and knows how studying is interesting and affects a young person. The judge, who is another main character, only comes in the story at the end, but at the end we also find out that the judge is in the story before the end as the big, evil rat. I know that the judge is evil because every time this big rat comes, all the other rats go because of its present. I also know its evil by how Stoker described the rat, baleful eyes, and these descriptions produced, an image in my head showing that it was evil. The judge meets the character determinant as he is the evil creature, he is like a ghost that haunts the house and he is described in a certain way to make him look wicked and evil.
In ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ the man all throughout the story behaves strangely. He acts in a mad, insane way, I think the man reflects Poe, as Poe was a very strange person, he gambled, he was an alcoholic and married an 13 year old girl when he was 24. Also in the story the mad man kills an old man just because he never liked his eyes but he also says in the story I loved the old man. So killing him just because of his eyes is purely a mad man’s act. Madness and insanity fits very well in the gothic horror genre. It builds suspense and thrills the reader. The other character is the old man, who is the innocent character, who is sleeping throughout the story, thus the old man is a typical character in a gothic horror story.
In ‘The Signalman’ the character the signalman is an innocent person just doing his job at a railway station. He is a sad person as he working in a solitary and dismal place. The other character is a ghost which isn’t really evil; it really just warns the signalman of something which is going to happen. . Although the character is a ghost it doesn’t really meet the character determinant of a gothic horror story, because the ghost should be evil and malicious.
The themes in all three stories are similar in some ways but also differ in other ways. In the ‘Judges House’ the theme is fear as everyone is scared of the judge including Malcomson at the end of the story. This fear in the story builds more tension in the story. There is also suspicion and supernatural, as everybody thinks there is something living in the house as well. This causes a dramatic and scary atmosphere. These are typical theme determinants for a gothic horror story.
The themes in ‘Tell Tale Heart’ are fear and guilt. There is fear because the narrator is scared by the old man’s eyes, it made his Blood ran cold, and this builds up the macabre feeling. There is guilt because the narrator after killing the old man, feels he has done wrong, this builds up tension because the reader’ wants to know if he tells the truth or not. The fear is a typical theme determinant but guilt really isn’t a characteristic for themes in a gothic horror story.
‘The Signalman’ has fear, mystery and premonition. When the signalman sees a ghostly figure in the darkness of the tunnel this is when fear and mystery comes in. Fear from seeing the ghostly figure and mystery from what it actually was. Premonition comes into the story when the ghost shows the signalman the future. Fear is associated with gothic horror stories but mystery and premonition are not essential elements of a gothic horror story.
In all three stories different forms of language is used. For example ‘The Judges House’ is written in Third person in an archaic style, because it is written in third person it makes it easier to understand the story. Also similes are used; one occasion is ...till their eyes shone like tiny lamps. Here a comparison is made between their eyes and the lamp. These similes create an image in the readers’ head. Also dramatic irony is used. In one line it says ...there was one wicked looking old devil... we later find out Malcolm is killed by this rat. This irony makes the story more interesting to read and also creates suspense.
‘The Tell Tale Heart’ is written in first person and is also written in an archaic style. The story being written in first person makes the reader feel he is part of story, thus the story being more interesting to him. In ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ a lot of alliteration is used one case is right at the end of the story when it says, hideous heart. This alliteration makes the story more interesting and makes it easier for the reader visualise what is happening. Also throughout the story the writing is heavily punctuated, I think Poe wrote like this because he was a critic and being a critic meant lots of detail with good Standard English. Poe uses lots of short sentences which made the story more thrilling because the pace of the story picks up, therefore something might happen suddenly.
‘The Signalman’ is written in First person and in old fashioned English style. The story is very descriptive; I think this is a good effect because it can create images in the reader’s head, which will make him understand the story properly. Also I think Dickens did this because he has gained a habit of being very descriptive as he usually writes his stories with great detail.
Gothic Horror authors usually use literary devices such weather, colour, time and objects. In ‘The Judges House’ a bible is used to scare off a rat. A bible is known to us as something that takes away evil because it is holy and virtuous. In this case the rat is evil and the bible being in its presence frightens it away. We can find evidence of this in the text, The bible my mother gave me! Also when Malcomson is killed weather is used as a literary device. Evidence of this is clearly shown ...swept on the storm came the striking midnight. These examples are all typical in a gothic horror story.
In ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ time is used as a literary device. The mad man would go every midnight to try to kill the old man. Midnight is the point where night comes to its highest peak and traditionally is known for the time when the night creatures are meant to come out. Literary devices give us the readers a thrill over the story, it makes the story more exhilarating and interesting, this is also typical for a gothic horror story.
In ‘The Signalman’ colour is used as a literary device. Dark colours and the colour red are used. Dark colours are usually associated with evil and red is usually associated with danger and also evil. This makes the story more fascinating to read and also creates a bloodcurdling atmosphere. These colours are typical in a gothic horror story.
I think ‘The Judges House’ matched my concept of ‘Gothic Horror’ most accurately because first of all it was set in a large old house. Secondly the characters used were typical of a gothic horror story, there was an innocent person and there was an evil creature. Thirdly the evil killed the good, which is also typical of a gothic horror story. Lastly the literary devices used were a bible and horrific weather; they both are distinctive elements in a gothic horror story. I think Stoker story is the best because his usual style was horror, Stoker is also famous for writing horror stories, his most famous story is ‘Dracula’, most of the ideas used in ‘Dracula’ appear nowadays in horror film and books. Also there were a lot of gothic horror stories written before he wrote ‘The Judges House’ by many authors, so he probably got many ideas from them. So this is why I think ‘The Judges House’ matches my concept of ‘Gothic Horror.
