Charles Dickens tries to create a spooky atmosphere in the story he begins by describing the setting. Dickens does this by suggesting danger by using phrases such as “Vague Vibration in the earth and air” and “When such vapour rose to my height from this rapid train...” This adds to the atmosphere as it suggests that danger is on its way.
Dickens also tries to create a spooky atmosphere by describing the cutting in a negative way by using describing words such as ‘… was extremely deep and unusually precipitate’ and also ‘… made through a clammy stone, that became oozier and wetter as I went down’ this adds to the atmosphere of the setting as it suggests that the path down to the Signalman’s watch box is very dark and creepy and also quite dangerous.
The narrator then reaches the bottom of the cutting and on to the railroad; this is where he meets the Signalman. The Signalman is described as a ‘dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows’, which suggests that he isn’t very well. This adds to the atmosphere as it suggests that the man isn’t very well due to the conditions at his post. Right at the beginning of the story, the narrator stands above the Signal Man on the steep cutting but the Signal Man does not look up at the Signal Man, as quotation to show this ‘… he turned himself about and looked down the line’ which suggests that the Signal Man saw the ghostly figure standing near the tunnel. Also, this suggests that the Signalman is slightly disturbed or possessed by some sort of ghost. Furthermore, the Signal Man is described to have an ‘attitude of expectation and watchfulness’, which suggests that he, is worried and nervous about something.
Both the Red Room and the Signal Man short stories have similar plots as they are both to do with the supernatural such as the Red Room is too do with spirits and the Signalman is to do with ghosts. Also, the plots are similar, as the reader doesn’t actually know whether the ghosts/spirits are actually there or just in the characters head.
The similarities between both the narrator is that the readers don’t know much about them and that they are both curious to see what is going on. Lastly, both narrators seem to be in isolated places such in the Red Room, the narrator was in an old house and in the Signalman the narrator was in an old signalman’s post. I would relate to the narrator in the Signalman the most, as the story is more of a truthful one as it shows the narrator trying to deal with a Signalman who is being haunted by some spirits.
In The Red Room and the Signalman, both HG Wells and Charles Dickens describe the other characters to in an effective, creepy way to create an atmosphere. Such as in the Red Room, HG Wells describes the 3 custodians in a scary way for example ‘an old wrinkled man with a withered arm’ which creates an atmosphere to suit that story. However in the Signalman, the Signalman is described to be possessed or haunted by a spirit for example ‘...He turned himself about, and looked down the line’ so this then creates an atmosphere to suit the story.
Both HG Wells and Charles Dickens use language in their short stories to create a creepy atmosphere. For example in the Red Room, HG Wells uses colours for example black to symbolize evil and red to symbolize death. Both writers also use metaphors to create an atmosphere
