Explore how Victorian writers use character and setting to create suspense
Ghost stories were very popular in 18th and 19th century Britain, when horror classics such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula were first written. In these stories, normal people find themselves faced with supernatural, and sometimes horrifying occurrences. Pieces of horror or ghost fiction from this period are known as "Gothic". Gothic literature contains eerie settings and gory imagery, for example many tales from this era will feature large, old houses, creaky staircases and gargoyle statues. Architectural details such as these are included to scare the reader, and to create tension. Many gothic stories are set at night, because nighttime is usually most associated with scary, mysterious or supernatural happenings.
These stories were seen as amazingly exciting and controversial at the time, as the writers presented the reader with thrilling tales set in a spooky, gothic setting.
Steel engraving (993 x 71mm) for frontispiece to t...
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Mary Shelley's FrankensteinNowadays, with the development of film-making and special effect technology, these works of literature are read less. However, many directors have recreated the excitement of these tales on screen, and many people still enjoy reading horror fiction.
I am going to be comparing three ghost stories from this period, concentrating on how the writers use character and setting to build tension and scare the reader. The stories are; The Signalman by Charles Dickens, The Red Room by H.G Wells, and Elizabeth Gaskell's The Old Nurse's Story. In The Signalman, a station worker retells his experiences of a ghostly figure who causes death on the railway line. The Red Room is about a skeptical man who enters a haunted room and experiences th torment of the ghost who resides there. Finally, The Old Nurse's Tale is the story of a woman and her child who return from the dead to...