How the Authors Create a Feeling of Fear and Terror in The Ostler, The Red Room and The Superstitious Man's Story

How the Authors Create a Feeling of Fear and Terror in The Ostler, The Red Room and The Superstitious Man's Story

In order to answer this question I read the relevant stories, i.e.

'The Ostler' by Wilkie Collins, 'The Red Room' by H.G. Wells and 'The

Superstitious Man's Story' by Thomas Hardy in great detail. I will now

attempt to compare the methods the authors have utilised to create the

impact mentioned above. In order to see which one has been more

effective in conveying fear and terror, suspense and the

extraordinary, in my opinion. Furthermore, I will endeavour to point

out the similarities and differences in tense, style and prose between

the stories, using quotations where appropriate. Moreover, I will

discuss the roles the various characters play. These people are

important, as the reader needs to identify to some extent with the

narrator and his description and interpretation of his 'human props'

as well as the setting they are placed in.

The opening to any story is crucial, since the reader may not decide

to continue with his intention to 'read all' if he/she is not

sufficiently interested in the first few sentences. In 'The

Superstitious Man's Story' the reader is struck immediately by an air

of mystery, and somehow feels privy to a secret. This is a story

steeped in 'hearsay'. The narrator (the seedman's father)

painstakingly talks us through every minute detail 'putting away the

irons and things, and preparing the table for his breakfast in the

morning.' By placing so much emphasis on mundane issues the impact of

the extraordinary is in stark contrast. It is almost as if the reader

is lulled into a sense of security, ...

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...e unknown is intriguing to many. Even though the three stories

have a different approach they all centre of the supernatural. They

are all written pre-1914 - well before the advent of technology, which

has accelerated at an alarming rate. Nowadays, our culture revolves

around technology and people require proof. It is essential for an

author to set the scene, draw the reader in and when that is

accomplished deliver the punch line. All of the authors succeed in

doing this. 'The Superstitious Man's Story' is too stark, and puts the

reader 'on guard' as to its content. I prefer the gradual style of the

other two stories. In 'The Red Room' and 'The Ostler' the settings and

the characters enhance the plot immensely. The characters are not

developed enough in 'The Superstitious Man's Story', and the setting

is rather boring.