Ghost Stories :: English Literature

Ghost Stories Ghost stories revolve around lots of Spooky tales that work on displacing the reader's fear. Some of the main techniques which make them successful involve: Fear, Drama, Danger and Suspense. However, the main idea is that they create tension too. Such stories which use tension to dramatic affect are "The Red Room" by H.G. Wells and "Farthing House" by Susan Hill; both are written in first person narrative to allow the reader to get scared along with the main character. Both stories also build tension through their Style, Setting, Structure and Language. "The Red Room" is about a ghost hunter who is a legendary ghost, "Farthing House" is about a woman who stays with her aunt at a residential house and feels and sees a woman's supernatural presence in her room - both tales have a dramatic twist at the end! Tension is created through "The Red Room's" setting in many ways - Firstly: "I can assure you, said that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me". This dramatic opening to the story sets the ghost hunter as a Brave, Strong character. The word 'tangible' suggests it will take more than a scary image to frighten him, yet tension is caused because the reader now expects that something will be frightening him - soon. H.G. Wells builds on this subtle tension and the supposed 'invincible man' by setting his story to contradict and unease the man's assurances, not only is he in a strange house with a legendary red room (building immediate suspicion by the fact that the room is renowned, "You will show me to this haunted room of yours,") but Wells surrounds him with grotesque characters too. The three custodians set the story by introducing the reader to the Red Room and through their crusty appearance. "If is your own choosing, said the man with the withered arm and glanced at me askance" only four lines into the story and the main character, along with the reader already senses that all is not well, mainly because the man is deformed - "withered" and because he is acting oddly i.e.; "looking askance". This action suggests the custodian knows something we don't, he appears too shifty. Wells continues to build tension through introducing the second man who also adds to the scene: "shambling step", "more bent, more wrinkled, more aged", "his lower lip half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth", "began to cough". The verb 'shambling' suggests the man may have a limp and the repetition of the word 'more' portrays a disgusting image of the ageing wreck, barely human. The man's manky description backs this up and encourages the