How is tension and suspense built up and maintained in at least two Gothic horror stories?
How is tension and suspense built up and maintained in at least two Gothic horror stories? The genre of Gothic Horror was developed during 19th and early 20th century and had a popular appeal to the new middle class people who sought entertainment. Gothic Horror has common characteristics of suspense, fear and would often include a rational, scientifically minded character who fails to heed warnings. Gothic horror tales often have exotic and mythical influences. The night and the unreassuring lack of light play a big part in adding to the hellish imagery. One of the key ways that tension is built up in gothic horror stories is through the setting, For example, "The Red Room" is set is an old dark castle. It is quite remote. Tension is built up with the portrayal of the "long draughty subterranean passage" which eventually leads to "that large sombre room"; the effect of such a setting is to give a feeling of impending doom. Likewise "The Monkey's Paw" is set in a "beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way" house; this increases the tension by high lighting the isolation of the characters within. The approaching path to the house is described by Mr White as a "bog" which is indicative of the later event of the dead son returning from his grave. The setting of the cold and wet weather is in contrast to the cosy small parlour, in which "the blinds were drawn and the fire burned
Compare The Pre-1914 Short Story ‘The Red Room’ With The Modern Short Story ‘Farthing House’
Compare The Pre-1914 Short Story 'The Red Room' With The Modern Short Story 'Farthing House' The pre-1914 short story 'The Red Room' is what you would expect of a traditional gothic horror story. It is set in an ancient castle, with creaking doors, shadowy corners, and a general sense of eerie foreboding. The whole story is based around the fear of the narrator. In comparison, 'Farthing House' is almost the opposite; it is set in an ordinary nursing home in modern day England, and its ghost brings more complex emotions, of melancholy and sadness, rather than the pure fear brought by the ghost in 'The Red Room'. Both these stories are written in the first person narrative, allowing the reader to live through the narrator's experiences and share their emotions. The settings of 'The Red Room' and 'Farthing House' are a complete contrast; 'The Red Room' has a traditional gothic horror setting, while 'Farthing House' is set in a modern nursing home, with tearooms and flowers rather than shadows and fear. The setting of 'The Red Room' contains many traditionally gothic features, which help to get into the imagination of the reader, for example, '... the queer old mirror...' and, '... the door creaked on its hinges...' The word 'creaked' in this line is also an example of the onomatopoeia often used in traditional horror stories to build up the atmosphere. The language used
Comparison between ‘The Red room’ and ‘Farthing House’.
Comparison between 'The Red room' and 'Farthing House' The 'Red Room' and 'Farthing House' are both ghost stories. H.G Wells is said to be the father of modern science fiction. H.G Wells wrote the 'Red Room' in the nineteenth century and 'Farthing House' was by 'Susan Hill' in the twentieth century. Susan Hill is very much alive today, Susan Hill wrote a famous ghost novel called 'The woman in Black'. Both stories in a variety of ways contain the characteristics of a ghost story genre. Most ghost stories are set in castles and the ghost appears around nighttime. A ghost is a disturbed soul that cannot find inner peace. Traditionally ghosts are spirits of the dead who return to haunt those who killed them and in a way would want some revenge against them. It is also very rare to find a friendly ghost and in most ghost stories there is normally someone who disbelieves in ghosts and later finds that a ghost does exist. Most ghost stories are not full-length stories. Ghost stories traditionally build up an atmosphere of spookiness and fear. Both stories begin with 'I' drop caps, both stories are set in a house and both stories use the first person narrative. In each story the 'I' person is talking directly to the reader. In the 'Red Room' story begins to build suspense and the writer brings out the fact that the young man is not afraid of ghosts. "I can assure you, said I
In "The Red Room" by H.G.Wells, how does the author build the tension and anxieties surrounding the experience of staying in the room?
THE RED ROOM Question: In "The Red Room" by H.G.Wells, how does the author build the tension and anxieties surrounding the experience of staying in the room? The whole story of "The Red Room" is written in first-person so that what ever the narrators witnessing, the reader witnesses too. Fear is the basis of the story as we find out at the end. The start of the story is sets a gothic scene by having very strange people by a warm fire, "The man with the withered arm," "The old woman" & "The man covered by a shade." These characters all create a sense of uneasiness about them. One character is known all the way through as "The man with the shade," This adds mystery, fear and confusion to the reader. We do not know the names of any of the characters so that there are questions unanswered from the start. This creates confusion and builds up the mysterious atmosphere. Tension and anxiety develops from uncertainties. Darkness is a main factor in this short story; Wells uses darkness because it creates fear. That fear of the unknown leaves the narrator vulnerable. The three characters are old which indicates that they have experienced a lot in life. Repetition is used to give the narrator warning. The old woman says "It's your own choosing" and "This night of all nights?" as if she is trying to say that there is something in that room that will harm you, this haunts the
My Room
My Room It is the quintessence of monotony: a mountain chain of stucco that lies atop fallow lots the size of kitchen magnets. Welcome to suburbia. I effortlessly enter my pervious pastel palace, but the voyage to my room is an uphill battle; it is quite an insurmountable quest. The trek to my cell consists of a frozen spiral staircase. It is not smooth and slippery, though, but rocky and perilous. The portal lies beyond the staircase... I force my way through the abrasive forcefield of forbiddance. The shrieks of my tearing flesh are subdued by the overpowering silence of the room. Words are mouthed, but not spoken. They do not exist. This cubicle of torment does not allow language, the embodiment of opposition. As I step into my room, I notice all colors of the spectrum for a fraction of a second, then they appear red. Countless pictures adorn the walls; they are all of one person. I know her, but who is she? Her eyes are dark and enigmatic. I can see the sadness in her eyes. Her eyes. They lack the luminescence of the youthful character they portray. Her glances pierce through my being like light through glass. The carpet is a sea of scorn. It stabs my feet with its blades of contempt. The walls of mockery laugh at me as I foolishly try to climb them to rid myself of its presence. Yet there is no escape. I have inflicted more pain
How was the Time traveller disappointed with the future and the farther future?
'The Time Machine Essay' How was the Time traveller disappointed with the future and the farther future? The Time Traveller expected the people of the future, and their technology to be greatly ahead of ours: 'I had always anticipated that the people of the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand odd would be Incredibly in front of us in knowledge, art, everything' He was discouraged to find creatures, as the Time Traveller says 'on the intellectual level of one of our five-year-old children'. The Time Traveller was staggered over the difference between what he expected and what he was witnessing. He must have found it very disappointing that these fragile fools were his descendants. The Eloi didn't take care of their buildings as many of them were 'very badly broken or weather worn'. This showed that they had lost their carpentry skills and their liking of architecture. They also had no books, which would have frustrated him as he had written a book on physical optics. Seeing as books are learning for the future, no books, no learning. He even thought at one point that he had built the Time Machine in vain. The Time Traveller, himself being an inventor, was saddened to find that there was no fire in the future. Without they couldn't melt metal, which was needed for inventions. 'the art of fire making had been forgotten on earth'. This book was written at the time of the
How does H.G Wells build suspense in the
How does H.G Wells build suspense in the "red room"? H.G. Wells "red room "is a pre-twentieth century suspense short story, which is a type of a Gothic story. I shall examine the various techniques that the writer has used to create and sustain suspense. For the first part of the essay I shall explain what a Gothic story is. A Gothic story is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in English literature in the last third of the 18th century, the setting to for which was usually a ruined Gothic, Castle or Abbey. The Gothic novel or Gothic romance, emphasised mystery and horror and was filled with ghost haunted rooms, underground passages and secret stairways. For this reason it is told the "red room" is a Gothic story, this could also explain how suspense in the "red room" was formed. Also if I look at the genre of the story, suspense is built at the beginning by H.G. Well's description of the man with the withered arm, the woman looking into the fire, the second old man and the description of the house: "Flags in the passage outside." "Door creaked on hinges." Also suspense is built by the description of the room, where the young man has to spend the night: "Steps up to it, were in a shadowy corner" This quote explains what the passage up to the "red room" was like. The mention of shadows in the description of the surroundings gives a feeling of evil,
Which is scarier, The Invisible Man Or The Landlady?
Which is scarier, The Invisible Man Or The Landlady? Roald Dahl was born in Norway in 1916. His father died when he was young and his mother sent him to school in England. After his education in England, Dahl started to write short stories, for which he is now well known. H.G. Wells was born in Bromley, Kent in 1866. After working as a schoolteacher he won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science. He received a first class honours degree in biology and resumed teaching, but had to retire due to injury. He then experimented with journalism and stories. It was 'The Time Machine' that started Wells' career as an author. In both 'The Landlady' and 'The Invisible Man' the character of each title is a villain who is either already mad or who becomes mad. H.G. Wells wrote 'The Invisible Man' in 1897; it is about a fanatical scientist who makes himself invisible and uses his power to inflict a ' Reign of Terror' on the local community. 'The Landlady' was written by Dahl in 1959, about a seemingly kind old lady who has a hobby of taxidermy - and whose subjects include handsome young men who come to her house seeking lodgings. 'The Invisible Man' is a full-length novel whereas 'The Landlady' is a short story. This means that Wells had plenty of time to develop his story line and characters but Dahl had to do all this, and build up tension, in the much more restricted
Fictionalised Memoir.
My fictionalise memoir is going to be on a real story that happened to me near the College of Southwark at the cut My story begins one day on a Tuesday afternoon after finishing my English class, has I was walking near the cut at Southwark I saw an elderly woman out side her door asking people to help her but no one help her then she ask me for help and because she was in her 70 to 80 I said yes not knowing what she wanted me to do. I followed her to her apartment then she explain what she wanted me to do which was She said that she is locked out of her apartment and that she left her key inside and the only way she could get in was to climb on to the roof in an apartment and jump down and I said to her this isn't dangerous? Is it then she answered no it very easy for a young man like you then I said to her yes I will help climb in her apartment to open her door. What the old lady never told me was that there was something in her house which I never new of until I climb up. Has I climb on to the roof and opened the door on the roof to jump down I saw two huge terrifying dogs barking at me fiercely but the elderly woman said to me that her dogs her harm less she specifically said her dogs are the most wonderful dogs in the world and that they would never hurt a fly. She persuaded me that the dogs were ok then when I attempted to jump down again the dogs jump up with there
Discuss how the authors create tension in each of the stories. Which do you think is the more successful ghost story?
Discuss how the authors create tension in each of the stories. Which do you think is the more successful ghost story? This essay will compare how the two authors of The Red Room and Farthing House create tension and build up the atmosphere of a successful ghost story throughout the course of the stories. The Red Room by H.G.Wells has many effective ways of creating tension. Firstly the language itself is in the first person perspective, which makes the reader feel more involved in the story. Because of this it is as if the characters emotions can be felt. This however is in contrast to Susan Hill's Farthing house, which appears to be far more personal as the narrator is self-conscious. There is also a certain sense of urgency about the story, as if it has to be told, this makes the story seem more compelled. The Red Room by H.G.Wells straight away creates an immediate impact upon the reader with the opening sentence used by the central protagonist. "I can assure you," said I,"that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me" Instantly the reader is lured into the eerie atmosphere. The presence of the old people at this stage gives a certain sense of tension with their mysterious appearance, especially the man with the withered arm. The fact that there is no knowledge or history of the house at the beginning of the story is in itself quite mysterious. The