Death is also a common theme through all the stories. In the Signal Man the Signal Man is killed by the train. In The Red Room we are told of the ‘poor young countess’ who had died in The Red Room. W.W. Jacobs also uses death by killing Herbert but also uses the undead by bringing Herbert back to life but in his condition which he died.
Mystery is also used through out the three different stories. W.W. Jacobs uses mystery to create tension by making the reader wonder where The Monkey's Paw came from as all they know is that it came from ‘a far away land.’ H.G. Wells also uses mystery in a similar way by making the reader want to know what is haunting The Red Room. Charles Dickens’s use of mystery is also very close to that of H.G. Wells’ and W.W. Jacobs’ as he makes the reader speculate upon what the ghost is.
Furthermore to the use of mystery the gothic occult is used strongly in the three stories. This includes all kinds of ghosts, spirits and magic. These are very prominent features of all of the stories as they all include on of a ghost spirit or some magic. In The Monkey's Paw the magical power is part of the occult and it is shrouded in mystery as we do not know where its power comes from. A sprit appears to the Signal Man in the form of a warning which creates the main thread of the plot. This is also closely linked to mystery as the reader has very little information upon what is causing the visions which the Signal Man keeps having. Similarly in The Red Room the occult is used in the form of a ghost which haunts The Red Room. Mystery is also related to this as the reader does not know the source of the haunting until the end of the story.
In the same way all three authors use another element, isolation, to create tension in their stories. The first example of this comes at the start of The Monkey's Paw when Mr. White says ‘the paths a bog and the roads a torrent.’ This gives the reader the immediate impression that even if the family whished to escape from the house they would not be able to. In contrast the castle in which The Red Room is set is made out to be a long way from any civilization as it is in the middle of France which makes it see as if the narrator cannot run from the castle. There is a very different form of isolation in the Signal Man as he is isolated by being a long way from any town but mainly that he has been there for a very long time and has not had much human contact in that time.
Furthermore to these features physical deformity is shown in all of the stories. W.W. Jacobs uses this by making the reader imagine a mutilated Herbert outside the door and in the same way Charles Dickens makes the reader imagine the remaining parts of the Signal Man when he says, ‘his face is still composed.’ This makes the reader speculate as to what the rest of the Signal Man’s body is like if only his face is left.
The use of warnings in the three stories varies. In The Monkey's Paw the man who gave Mr. White the monkey's paw warned him against using him but Mr. White still used the paw to try to fulfil his own desires. In the same way in the Red Room a warning was issued to the narrator about going into The Red Room but this, also, was ignored and the narrator suffered the consequences. However, in the Signal Man the ghost who was trying to warn the Signal Man of the future danger was what killed him. The Signal Man heard the train driver shout, “‘For god’s sake clear the way,’” and stood still as he thought it was the ghost again which was what killed him.
The last main feature which all of the gothic horror writers use is the idea of women, or weaker characters, being vulnerable. In The Monkey's Paw it can be seen that Mrs. White’s love for Herbert was what made her husband wish him alive again and therefore create the horror of his return. She is also shown to be weak later in the story when she cannot open the door by herself which allows Mr. White the opportunity to wish Herbert away.
The three authors create tension in another, completely different, way in their stories. This is the way in which they use words and phrases to create suspense. An example of this is a theme such as repetition. This is shown in the Signal Man when the words, “‘Halloa! Below there!’” are repeated through out the text.
In the Signal Man tension is created by the way in which Charles Dickens describes the cutting in which the Signal Man resides. It is described as ‘the deep trench.’ To a present day reader the word ‘trench’ would suggest a place in which there were millions of deaths during the First World War but this story was written before trench warfare took place. Nether the less, to a reader today the use of the word trench does create tension.
The phrase ‘a dripping wet wall of jagged stone’ is used by Charles Dickens to describe the walls of the cutting. This contrast between the words ‘wet wall’ which roll off the tongue very easily and the hard sound of ‘jagged stone’ next to each other immediately unnerve the reader just by the sound of the words and not even by content.
Furthermore to the description of the wall of the cutting Charles Dickens describes the valley as a ‘great dungeon.’ This links to the theme of isolation as the Signal Man cannot escape from the ‘dungeon’ and is most probably going to die here.
Charles Dickens uses the phrase ‘an irresistible sense that something was wrong.’ This instantly makes the reader want to find out what is wrong and will continue to read due to the tension created.
W.W. Jacobs creates suspense by, also, using certain combinations of words and phrases. The first lines of The Monkey's Paw create suspense by the contrast between ‘the fire burning brightly’ and ‘the night being cold and wet.’ This contrast between the outside and the inside of the White’s house creates immediate suspense in The Monkey's Paw.
‘Just an ordinary little paw dried like a mummy.’ This is used by W.W. Jacobs when describing The Monkey's Paw this horrifies the reader by allowing them to imagine this grotesque object and tension is created.
W.W. Jacobs gradually creates suspense by his use of words and repetition when he says ‘a knock resounded through the house…a loud knock resounded through the house.’ This use of words gradually builds the tension as the reader pictures Mr. and Mrs. White sitting in bed, in the dark which their undead son racking on their door.
In addition H.G. Wells also creates suspense by his use of words and phrases through out The Red Room.
This includes the way in which the old lady says ‘“this night of all nights.”’ This is repeated and the reader never finds out why she says this. This contributes to the tension created by this repetition and mystery.
The male inhabitant of the castle is always referred to as ‘the man with the withered arm.’ This puts emphasis upon his deformity and creates anxiety each time this phrase is used.
In conclusion there are many element of gothic horror which all of the writers use but some use in different ways. They also use the sounds of words repetition of words and words which can have an alternate meaning but all of these methods give the same effect which is to create suspense.
