Both W.W Jacobs and Charles Dickens use language in their stories to create horror. Dickens uses lots of description to develop the story, creating atmosphere and tension. In contrast Jacobs uses little description relying on action and shock to develop his story.
The setting in the Signalman is important to the development of the story. Dickens sets The Signalman is a railroad cutting near the mouth of a tunnel throughout the whole story and provides a detailed description: “The cutting was extremely deep, and unusually precipitous. It was made from unusually clammy stone that became oozier and wetter as I went down.” Dickens uses the setting to build atmosphere, using the isolated railroad cutting to create a sense of loneliness. Dickens further develops the setting: “His post was in as solitary and dismal a place as I ever saw.” Dickens uses dark and foreboding words to describe the setting adding atmosphere.
Jacobs begins the story on a “cold and wet” night in Laburnum Villa. The Monkey’s Paw starts in typical horror story fashion with bad weather conditions at night time. This setting builds tension as the reader expects horrible event to unfold similar to that of typical horror stories. However, this initial tension is dropped when it is discovered that father and son are at chess. Mr. White says: “That’s the worst of living so far out.” Jacobs creates atmosphere in The Monkey’s Paw by setting the story in an isolated location that is “beastly” and “slushy.” Jacobs does not develop the setting any further in The Monkey’s Paw leaving the reader to imagine the house.
Dickens and Jacobs keep the setting of there stories in the same location throughout. Both writers create a sense of loneliness in there stories by having an isolated setting. Whereas Dickens chooses to develop his setting throughout the story to create atmosphere and tension, Jacobs does not describe the setting of The Monkey’s Paw in detail.
Dickens develops the major character of his story, the signalman himself. We see Dickens use complex characterisation to build a dynamic character to which the reader can relate to. The Signalman is a troubled man who believes he is tormented by a ghost: “but I am troubled, sir, I am troubled.” Dickens develops the signalman’s character by highlighting his behaviour: “I had proven him to be intelligent, vigilant, painstaking, and exact; but how long might he remain so, in his state of mind?” Dickens focuses on the description of the signalman in his story, describing other characters in less detail and also chooses not to describe the lonely traveller that the signalman talks to.
Jacob’s characterisation is very simple because he chooses to describe his characters briefly. In The Monkey’s Paw there are a number of characters mentioned but Jacobs uses these characters to move the story on as a pose to developing them. In the opening of The Monkey’s Paw the White family are awaiting the arrival of Sergeant-Major Morris, “…a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage.” Jacobs only describes the physical appearance of this character. There is very little description of the characters in The Monkey’s Paw, and this is more evident when Jacobs writes: “For God’s sakes don’t let it in.” The thing knocking at the door is not described by Jacobs and the horror is left to the reader to imagine.