How do the authors create atmosphere and tension in "The Monkeys Paw" and "The Red Room"

The Red Room however is set in a different perspective. It is set inside a castle. As in most ghost stories, there is a fire place. Fireplaces are used a lot in ghost stories to give that feeling of warmth and security before they go into the scary parts. He also uses an example of onomatopoeia by saying that there is a creaky door; again this is a typical addition to a spooky house because it gives you an eerie feeling. I feel that the authors of these two stories use similar techniques when regarding the setting both authors over exaggerate the scene and use scary features to add to the fear and suspense.

The two stories use similar techniques to describe the characters but the descriptions are a lot different .The author of The Monkey's Paw describes Mr.White as grumpy and pessimistic towards his life. Mrs White on the other hand is kind, considerate and constantly boosting her husband's morale. She says to Mr.White "maybe you will win next time." The author uses the opposites in characters as he did with the setting to show a clear difference between the two. This is an effective technique because it adds contrast and makes it more interesting.

In The Red Room the author uses another similar technique by showing a change of personality within a character. In the beginning, the narrator is very confident and arrogant and doesn't believe in ghosts but towards the end he starts to panic and becomes really petrified. The author does this to make the story more interesting it really shows the difference in personality and therefore is very affective. Also the author of the red room names the other characters by there features such as "the man with the withered arm" and "the man with the shade" this technique is useful because it gives you the feeling as if they are inhuman and have no name this adds to the tension. Also he uses really strong adjectives to describe the old people he uses words such as "bent", "averted" and "decayed." These words all are useful in the build up to the scare factor.

In The Monkeys Paw the author also uses certain word to describe something as non human in this story the author uses this technique when describing Mr and Mrs Whites reborn son he indicates this by using the phrase "don't let it in." Using the word "it" to describe something, the author shows that the object is inferior or not important. The use of the word shows they are no longer describing him as a person.

In The Red Room the characters are constantly asking the same question, this builds up tension because it makes you feel as if they know something that you don't. On several occasions the author uses this repetition of words to add to the drama of the scene. Examples of this are when the man with the withered arm says "it is your own choosing" and the old lady says "this night of all nights." Both characters say these phrases several times during the story to warn the narrator, which makes the reader, wonder what they are afraid of.

The authors of the two stories use a lot of descriptive language to create tension. They do this by using strong powerful adjectives and verbs. This is extremely useful when describing setting, characters or feelings. In The Monkey's Paw the author describes Mr White as "grimly surveying the board." This phrase is a strange way of describing a game of chess. It makes it sound more serious and intense and it does add more fear and tension. The author uses this well because it makes it sound more sinister and scary. Another example of this is "the words died away on his lips." This is also very useful because the word died is a very strong emotional word and it gives you the feeling as if the words have jus vanished to make Mr.White appear speechless.

In The Red Room the author uses word such as "withered," "declined," "wasted," "averted," "grotesque" and "atavistic" to describe the old people. These words are not how you describe a human .Again the author is using really powerful words to make us feel disgusted and horrified that people could actually look like the descriptions given. Also, in the story, the main character describes them as "inhuman in senility." This is another example of the way in which the author describes them as zombie like.

Also the author of The Red Room use complex phrases such as "vain struggle against remorseless advance" and "crushed the last vestiges of reason from my brain." These phrases basically mean that the narrator in the story is struggling but are much more affective. The choices of words that the author uses are extremely powerful and give you a clear description of how badly he is struggling which makes you feel for the narrator.

In both of the stories, the authors use figurative language so that you can compare the feelings to something that you can relate to. The authors do this so that the reader knows how the characters are feeling and how it has an affect on them. Some of the examples are "steeped in shadow and silence." This is an example of alliteration it uses the letter "s" to add a more spooky feeling to the sentence. The author also describes the movement of the paw as "twisted like a snake." This is a good use of a simile because it tells you how it twisted and you can imagine just how it moved. The snake is also known as evil and hated by many so this also gives you a bad feeling about the monkeys paw. In the red room the author uses an oxymoron when using two opposite words to describe the same thing in this story the oxymoron is "positive dislike." This is very effective because it gives a strong description of what it is trying to perceive.

As a conclusion I would say that the authors of the two novels use all of the appropriate techniques and methods to provide tension and atmosphere within the story. They both use descriptive and figurative language when describing setting, characters and emotions .Also both books have a good use of language and sentence structure they use long and short sentences to good effect, that makes the tempo speed up and create more tension, also they use good use of repetition and layout of the writing. Both authors make the reader expect something they do this by hinting away at the supernatural and the descriptions of the characters. The authors also make it so that the story keeps you waiting and makes you want to read on to find out what happens in the end.

I think that both stories are similar to modern day stories but slightly different in the way that the language is used. I feel like this because in both modern and old time stories there is always the typical setting (dark, cold and wet ).Also the use of fire, candles and shadows are used in almost all ghost stories. They use similar techniques to describe characters as well. In both eras the characters descriptions are always gruesome and over the top. Some differences between the two ages are the type of words or phrases used .Obviously back when the two stories were written, the language was different to that of todays and is shown in the stories. The first example of this is the word "lain" this is more of an old fashioned word to describe the position lay and in modern stories I would not expect to see that word. Also I would like to add that the use of modern technology has revolutionised they way we view stories. Nowadays we are able to view graphic images and realise that they are not real where is back then they would have believed everything which makes it more scary because it is realistic.

Both stories have a huge impact on the audience because they both play with your feelings and emotions. Both stories are written with the intent to scare and they do that. Also, they make you feel sad, disgusted and interested. I think that they do this by there powerful descriptions. And in which they use long and short sentences to build up the tension and atmosphere before the ending.

Whilst studying the two books I have realise that to write a successful horror story you have to use all of the techniques and in my opinion the most important technique is descriptive language. When describing, you have to use powerful and meaningful words to give a clear visual picture and so the reader is reacting to the descriptions. I feel that if you have good descriptions then everything else will follow and if you draw the reader's emotions in to the book then they will be more scared after the ending scare factor.

Michael Tindall English coursework Miss Byrd