Mystery Stories

Short fictional mystery stories were very popular in the 19th century, especially in the Victorian era. They often appeared on the back of newspapers or in magazines because they were so cheap. They were very tense and exciting back then and still are nowadays. Although not read as much as now, one does receive the pleasure in reading these fascinating mystery stories. Nowadays we have television, radios, films and many other modern media technologies such as these. As the world was advancing, science was beginning to explain the unexplainable and answer unanswerable questions. There were huge scientific breakthroughs and discoveries, that it seemed as if it could solve anything. These stories were original, unique and inexplanitary, which is why the Victorians liked them, because it was a break from science proving everything. The mystery story genre developed by characteristics in the way these stories were created.

Most of these stories were quite typical. For example setting the scene with pathetic fallacy. The writer uses pathetic fallacy, to help create the mysterious mood of the scenes. We can see this in ‘The Signalman’. The narrator shows as if he leaves the real world, and goes down into the dark, gloomy, eerie and unnatural world. ‘Down in the deep trench…. So steeped in the glow of an angry sunset…. that it had an earthy, deadly smell; and so much cold wind rushed through it, that it stuck a chill to me, as if had left the natural world.’. Another use of pathetic fallacy is when in the ‘The Red Room’, it helps make the character feel uneasy, and as he pursues down the corridor, his mind begins to play tricks on him, like as if there is somebody round the corner, ‘I was about to advance …. Hiding from me by the corner of the wall, its shadow with …. Gave me the impression of someone crouching to waylay me …. I then held my revolver ….’.

Almost all of them are in first person narrator, which draws us into the story. These stories were well written with escapist literature, when there is relief from reality and a different approach, which is what attracts us aswell.

The narrator is the person who is describing the story to you. Well it makes you feel as if someone is talking to you physically and individually; creating the feel and setting the scenes in the story as you read it. This gives it a more personal mood to it. We can also know his thoughts, emotions and feelings as they ...

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All the stories that we have read are in first person singular, and this tells us that they have had the experience. They are sharing the event with us and have survived their fascinating encounter. It makes it a lot more believable too, also creates a ‘mise en scene’. This also makes it easier to read and comprehend. It is easier to relate to the character in understanding what’s going on. This is why they are written in first person singular, and is certainly what draws us into the stories.

As we compare these stories’ narrators, in ‘The Ostler’, we have a narrator within another narrator, which is unusual and effective. We then hear from the second narrator through the first narrator. In ‘The Red Room’, we notice that the character thinks like an ordinary typical person using sarcasm and definitely not frightened of any petty ghost. He is confidant and a secure person, which brings the story realistically to life. We can tell that he does not believe in the supernatural or ghosts, because he says at the beginning of the story, ‘I can assure you…. that it would take a very tangible ghost to frighten me.’ The narrator in ‘The Signalman’ is also like us, because again, he is like the common man, doesn’t want to believe it, just like in ‘The Red Room’. He has a cynical and rational approach to these mysteries. ‘A disagreeable shudder crept over me, but I did my best against it’. ‘The Signalman’ has lots of unknown detail of the man whom he meets, and this immediately interests us! This mysteriousness is what draws us into this story. Even he (the narrator) is interested. ‘In me…. Interest in these great works’. ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’, is quite different, because we are straight into the story and not properly introduced like in the others. We immediately find out that the character is sentenced to death. This itself lures us into the story.

Each story that I have studied, have all ended with a supernatural climax. The stories generally begin with a normal relaxed, sceptical person with a cynical approach towards any supernatural or extreme activity. The story then continues with that person who pursues the supernatural event and finish with an experience that changes their lives; whether it’s a premonition or a haunting, they always turn out fascinated, proved wrong and they admit that there is some existing supernatural force. Like in ‘The Red Room’. It in the title does even hint a sound of a little gloomy and distinct. The first words are, ‘I can assure you…. that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me.’ This gives us an impression that he is like us. At the very end, his last few words are that there is fear in there as well a ghost. ‘Yes, the room is haunted.’ And, ‘the worst of all…. Is fear’.

These stories are mysterious. ‘The Ostler’, shows a man, who his dream is about a woman who tries to kill him, then throughout the story, we go through stages, getting closer to seeing the dream. Then eventually we meet the girl of his dreams! So its all a sort of build up of the man waiting for the lady trying to kill him, because he has seen the premonition of what’s going to happen. ‘She’s looking for me…. she’s looking for me!’ is one of the ending lines of ‘The Ostler’. In another story, ‘The Signalman’, there is a supernatural element, which is a weird premonition of a disastrous catastrophe, which happens to himself, which is a brilliant and unexpected twist.

This person is generally the narrator, which makes that story more believable and lures us into the story more. The reader(s) of the story are usually left with a ‘not fully chewed biscuit’, and leaves them to wonder about the past and future. This makes them think about the story more. This can then add to a tense and cliffhanging conclusion such as ‘The Ostler’!