Horror And Horror In Bram Stoker's Dracula

There are many books involving horror, either identified as gothic, thriller, actual horror, fantasy, etc. To determine how this element is reached, one must look at scenes that are known to frighten the reader. Therefore I decided to choose two passages each from two books to analyze the elements that contribute to the horror and sinister features. Trying to pick an old and a rather new novel I chose Bram Stoker’s Dracula, one of the first modern gothic/horror novels that has been of great influence in horror culture and has inspired many film makers to realize the story on screen, and Stephen King’s IT, King might be the most celebrated horror writer since the originals like Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, HP Lovecraft, etc, and IT has been labeled

When the reader solely focuses on the use of words, there are many beautiful things to be found. This however puts the reader in a difficult position for there are different ways to read and understand the novel. Some of these ‘decorations’ though, do support the horror in this novel and this scene is particularly terrifying because of the literary additions and excessive use of descriptions.

The mood in this scene is strongly influenced by the many adjectives, especially the ones that are used more often than others, this use of repetition speaks to the heart of the reader. For example, words like ‘desperate’ or ‘in despair’ can be found several times throughout and near the scene. Jonathan feels his end is near and therefore loses faith in all values he has. Which is why the extreme caution he had before slowly fades along with the increase of danger. This is paired with the feeling of despair, it is also clearly stated by Jonathan:

“Then a wild desire took me to obtain the key at any risk, and I determined then and there to scale the wall again, and gain the Count’s room. He might kill me, but death now seemed the happier choice of