The two short stories,” The Red Room,” and,”The Phantom coach,” create an atmosphere and suspense. Compare and contrast the ways in which both these stories establish tension and suspense

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The two short stories,” The Red Room,” and,

”The Phantom coach,” create an atmosphere and suspense.  Compare and contrast the ways in which both these stories establish tension and suspense

In the twenty-first century, mystery and horror genre stories are sill as popular with modern society readers, as they were in the nineteenth century with Victorian readers.  I have studied the two short stories, “The Red Room,” and “The Phantom Coach.”  In this essay I aim to compare and contrast the two short stories, focusing on language and stylistic techniques.

        H. G Wells wrote the “Red Room” in the year of 1986.  The “Red Room,” short story is based on people’s fear of the supernatural.  This short story was very popular in the nineteenth century for many reasons:

One reason is that Victorian people were very superstitious, and liked to read horror and mystery stories about the supernatural, people also liked the tension and suspense created.  Another reason was that short stories became a popular form of fiction in the nineteenth century.  This was because people used stories and magazines as forms of entertainment; television and radios had not been invented during the period of the nineteenth century.

        Amelia. B. Edwards wrote the “Phantom Coach,” in 1852.  The “Phantom Coach,” story is based on an incident that happened in a mans life, James Murray’s, and the fact that it has haunted him ever since. This story was popular for similar reasons as the, “Red Room,” but there were also other factors:

Amelia. B. Edwards began writing stories at the beginning of a period when women’s works had only began to start getting published.  Women used to apply to get their work published in magazines like, “Pallmal,” and,” The Strand.”

H. G. Wells, the author of “The Red Room,” was born on September the twenty-first, 1866, in Bromley Kent.  When H. G. Wells was sixteen he won a scholarship to, “The Normal School of Science,” but his rising interest in journalism and politics led him to fail his exams.  Wells then began to write books, gaining literacy recognition from his novello, “The Time Machine,” in 1895.  Wells also became involved with the “Fabien Society,” from 1902-1906.  During Wells’ career he had a total of eighty books, writing novels right up to his death in 1946, his final novel being,

“Mind at the End of its Tether.”

Amelia. B. Edwards was born in 1831 in London.  Amelia was home educated by her mother, and displayed a flair for literacy from an early age; Her first poem was published at the young age of seven.  Her first story was published at the age of twelve.  When Amelia was thirty her parents both died- this left Amelia with no friends of family, so she began to explore the globe, and became interested in Egypt, a reason why she may have been intrigued in Egypt, is due to the Egyptians belief of “Life after death,” Amelia may have felt closer to her mother and father through this supernatural death beliefs.  In 1882 Amelia largely funded the Egypt Exploration fund, of which she later became secretary.  Amelia died in Weston-Super Mare, Somerset, on the fifteenth of April 1892.

Openings are one of the most important factors in any story, but especially short stories.  This is because the openings introduce the main characters, and show the reader the setting.  Short story openings are especially important because the author cannot write for endless pages, introducing characters; they have to get to the point, but also keep the reader hooked and intrigued.  Both the “Red Room,” and “Phantom Coach” are written in first person, but are still different in narration; the “Phantom Coach” is telling the reader about an event that had previously happened, whereas the “Red Room” tells the reader the story as it happens, the reader feels as though they are actually with the characters, this helps to create tension.

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        “The Red Room” opens at Loraine castle, with the narrator and some strange old people, having a conversation about the supernatural and a haunted room.  The author uses the dialogue to engage the reader into the story; also the haunted room dialogue begins to poise questions in to the readers mind about, “Where the room is,” and, “Why it is haunted.”  Because these questions are in the readers mind, they read on.  Another factor that keeps the reader intrigued is the excellent use of language styles, including onomatopoeia and repetition.

“Then he began to cough and splutter again.”

Splutter is an ...

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