The old people also use repitition in their speech. This helps the tension of the story as it makes the reader want to know the meaning of what they are saying and the reasons why they are saying it. The repitition of the phrase "its your own chosing" leaves a suspision in the readers mind about what the main character will have to chose to do, will he or wont he go in the red room, therefore creating a creepy vibe about the old people and rising the level of tension in the story. However at the begining of the story, before the narrator enters the red room he has a very arrogant frame of mind saying that "it would take a very tangible ghost to frighten " him. The word "tangible" meaning real, tells us that he is not easily scared of ghosts aswell as suggesting that he doesn't believe in them. The narrator describes the old people in the house in a very dis-respectfull manor, this reflects on his arrogent frame of mind. The way he describes them helps the tension to rise for example "more bent, more wrinkled, more aged" , " decaying yellow teeth", " staring hard into the fire her pale eyes wide open" all make the old people seem very strange and not quite normal. At this point the tension goes up for the reader, but not for the narrator due to his arrogant frame of mind. The narrator uses such descriptions of the old people as he has no respect for them, he is constantly mocking them. He believes he has a much higher status than them. This is quite ironic as H.G Wells himself would normally write a science fiction novel not one of the gothic genre. So in this story it is not just the narrator/ main character mocking the victorians and their supersticions towards ghosts, spirits, light and dark it is the author himself getting his point across through his main character.
The tension goes up when the narrator is told to go to the red room alone. The mood somewhat changes when the narrator starts making his way to the red room. In order to build up the tension in this part the author H.G Wells appeals to the readers senses by saying " chilly echo-ing passage" which helps the reader really imagine what the way to the red room was like as it appeals to the sound and feel of it. There is also a change in the narrators frame of mind at this point as he starts to become weary of the old people as he admits that he found them odd, this shows the reader that he is not so brave as he thought he was and as we imagined him to be. When the narrator describes the passageway and staircase up to the red room we really begin to see the gothic genre coming into the story as the eliments of light and dark are introduced. The tension goes up here as he mentions, candle light, moonlight, witches, omens, shadows, ghosts and spiritual things. At this point the narrator becomes scared. The alliteration of the letter s on " spiral staircase and a shadow came sweeping" almost sounds like a snake or eerie wispers also creating tension. He starts to say what he is doing step by step, this creates an effect that makes the reader feel as though they are there with him as he walks up the staircase to the red room. The elements of light and dark are used to make light seem like the ultimate comfort , this is a very common characteristic of a gothic genre story. The old stories at the begining of the description of the walk up to the red room makes us believe that the house could be haunted as the narrator talks about the departure of the lady of the house, in these old stories he mentions scary things that creates even more build up and tension such as "dead brains" " witches" "ghosts" etc. "The long, draughty subterranean passage was chilly and dusty, and my candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver" this appeals to the sences and allows the reader to picture what is happening to the narrator very easily through H.G Wells' use of descriptive language and imagery. The imagery personifys the shadows as it says the "candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver" suggesting that light is a greater power than darkness. The candle is a very big form of comfort to the narrator, not just a light source. The verbs used to describe the shadows make them seem cowardly and sly. This brings the tension levels up again as he starts to pick out each shadow on his way to the red room. So far in the story the tension levels have continued to increase, not once has it decreased.
When the narrator enters the Red Room the tension levels begin to go up and down according to the narrators actions. The short clauses and the describing of every action increases the tension as the reader feels as though they are there with the narrator because of the lists of actions. The short sentences speed up the pace and make the tension levels rise quickly as the narrators actions seem to be more and more frantic for example the sentence "The Fire!". The use of long sentences made up of all main clauses also quickens the pace creating tension to reach a climax, for example the second paragraph on page 6 of the story. The narrators actions tell the reader that he is scared and desperately needs comfort and light whilst he is in the red room "the shadows i feared" tells us that he is seeking light in any way he can get it. The narrator is frantically trying to relight all of the candles as each go out "i leaped panting and dishevelled from candle to candle in a vain struggle against that remorseless advance" tells us this. The words "panting" , " struggle" tell us he is desperate not to let the red room go completely dark. In this story it seems dark is the ultimate evil. The descriptions and significant meanings of light and dark help to create tension in the red room. As a candle goes out the tension rises and then when it is relit the tension goes down. Because this happens alot the tension is constantly going up and down as the narrator see's things that are wrong and then puts them right. At the beginning he describes the darkness of the room he describes each "shadowy " part and each "black corner" that is "germinating darkness" this brings the tension levels up however shortly after he locks the door and lights more candles and lights the fire bringing the tension back down again. He is constantly doing little things like lighting a candle to make him feel reassured- because of this w know he is feeling nervous and scared. He even barricades the door to make the room feel safer so he must have a very nervous and edgy frame of mind right now which is almost the complete opposite to his arrogent and cocky frame of mind at the start of the story. He is almost parranoid at this point as though he is sensing things that might not even be happening. Alliteration is also used to create tension for example "fires flickering" personifies the fire making them seem as though they have a mind of their own and they are out to get the narrator.
The ending of the story tells the reader that there was nothing in the red room, all that time the reader was convinced that there was some sort of ghost or spirit present at the time so because you find this out the tension level goes down. The tension also increases as the old man describes how fear is what he discovered in the red room describing it as "a power of darkness". This spooks the reader.
H.G Wells, the author of "The Red Room" has used certain writing techniques in order to create and build up tension in his story. Techniques such as imagery, alliteration, repitition, choice of language and punctuation in order to create a tension build up or decrease. I think the story is a typical one of the gothic genre as it explores each idea of being trapped , darkness and fear very well.