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Tension and Suspense in Wells' The Red Room, Dickens' The Signalman and Jacobs' The Monkey's Paw
How do writers create tension in “The Red Room” by H.G.Wells, “The Signalman” by Charles Dickens and “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W.Jacobs?
Fear, suspense and adrenaline rushes and wondrous mysteries are what you get whenever you read a good horror book. It’s no wonder so many people read horror books. Horror stories have been around since the 18th century. One of the first ever Gothic horror novels was “The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Walpole. Gothic horror became hugely popular in the late 18th century and the 19th century.
Gothic Horror was most popular in the Victorian period. At this time short stories were very popular as entertainment. Also thrillers and stories centred around the supernatural were well liked with Victorian readers therefore it was essential that these short Gothic fiction stories would have had to be filled with suspense and tension to keep the readers interested.
In the Victorian period there was a very high death rate and low life expectancy because of this they were slightly obsessed with death so would have loved to read about it therefore this would have added to the genre’s popularity among the Victorian readers. The Victorians had many beliefs about the supernatural which were incorporated into Gothic Horror stories. An example of their beliefs is that the number 3 is bad. The number three is therefore . . . read more.
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