Components of a Good Mystery

Components of a Good Mystery

Short fictional mystery stories were very popular in the 19th century,

especially in the Victorian era. They often appeared on the back of

newspapers or in magazines because they were so cheap. Although not

read as much now, one does receive pleasure in reading these

fascinating mystery stories. Nowadays we have television, radios,

films and many other modern media technologies. As the world advanced,

science was beginning to explain the unexplainable and answer

unanswerable questions. There were huge scientific breakthroughs and

discoveries, that it seemed as if it could solve anything. These

stories were original, unique and unexplainable, which is why the

Victorians liked them, because it was a break from science proving

everything. The mystery story genre developed by characteristics in

the way these stories were created.

Most of these stories were quite typical, for example setting the

scene with pathetic fallacy. The writer uses pathetic fallacy, to help

create the mysterious mood of the scenes, as this device was used to

assimilate the weather to show how a character was feeling. We can see

this in 'The Red Room', as it helps make the character feel uneasy,

and, as he pursues down the corridor, his mind begins to play tricks

on him, as if there is somebody round the corner, "I was about to

advance… Hiding from me by the corner of the wall, its shadow with…

Gave me the impression of someone crouching to waylay me…. I then held

my revolver…"In "The Man with the Twisted Lip," the narrator speaks as

if he leaves the real world, and goes down into the dark, gloomy,

eerie and unnatural world...

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...used to represent evil and

scariness, creating a spooky atmosphere from the start. Descriptions

are also widely used to build up the atmosphere. Things such as sudden

noises are scary, making the reader jump, implementing a scare factor

into the stories. Also smells and other sounds are mainly used to

create atmosphere, the smell of death will imply evil and increase the

atmosphere of the story. I think that the use of the darkness in the

short stories is the most effective, as everyone instantly recognises

fear and evil with the dark. The stories are all just as applicable

now as when they were written, as they all use the same basic

techniques that would still be used today to create atmosphere and

enforce fear onto the reader. Also the element of age does not affect

them, if anything it just creates more atmosphere.