19th Century Horror Stories Essay

In this essay we will look at the Characteristics of 19th carbon Horror Stories, commenting on the structure of the baloney the picture show the themes included in the story the ambit and the writers technique.I will be looking into two texts in detail The pixys bridge player by William Wymark Jacobs and The Signalman by Charles Dickens, whilst making references to Captain Rogers also by William Wymark Jacobs, and The Engineers Thumb by Sherlock Holmes.During the Victorian period, the industrial regeneration was in full flow, and the gothic styles of writing used in the stories of this period were extremely popular featuring in some magazines of the time. Horror stories became almost an obsession for umpteen deal, who were drawn in by the unique styles of the writers such as Dickens, Poe, and Wilkie Collins. They were cheap, and widely available, with many of them being published in magazines. The availability of them meant that the obsession continued, as the people of t hat time were always able to obtain a new story.One of the stories, The Signalman by Dickens, is a fine example of the horror stories of that dayIt begins by setting a gloomy scene, with the Signalman situated in a deep cutting, his figure foreshortened and shadowed. Using description such as this, the author smoke immediately let the reader understand the mood of the story in this case, dark and depressing. This technique is also used in Captain Rogers, with the words halting, painful, and forced being used in the first paragraph.The deep cutting in which the story is set, is later described as a bread and aloneter, and at the end of the cutting was the entrance to a black tunnel, in which there was a barbarous, depressing, and forbidding air setting a negative semantic field around the piece.The Signalman himself is described as a dark sallow man, living in as solitary and dismal a place that the cashier ever saw. Indeed, the narrator comments that it was as if I had left t he natural world.Indeed, the opening to the story gives the reader a glimpse of the signalmans loneliness, and a champion of foreboding towards the trench in which he was posted. Loneliness and foreboding are two major(ip) feature articles of 19th Century horror.Horror stories from this period often relieve oneself a supernatural theme. In The Signalman, ghostly specters haunt the unfortunate rail-way worker and shortly afterwardwards they appear, a terrible accident occurs.Accumulation is a major factor in horror stories, and The Signalman used this to great effect. The appearances of the refinements become more frequent, making the reader wonder what is going to take place at the climax.The tad returns, and the signalman describes to the narrator that what troubles me so dreadfully is the question What does the spectre mean? This leaves the reader to ponder what whitethorn happen next in the story, even though they may have no idea. It leaves the reader feel to be scared by whatever their imagination may come up with, meaning the writer does non have to reveal the plot just yet but can keep the reader guessing. This is a common feature in 19th Century horror, and is used in Captain Rogers and The Engineers ThumbThe narrator also describes how he could see the mental torture and pain of mind of the signalman, suggesting that the events with the spectre have left his state of mind in tatters. In 19th Century horror stories, characters were often driven mad by the events unf obsoleteing in the bookAt the end of the book, the plot unravels, and all becomes clear. The narrator is shocked to hear of the death of the signalman, who is hit by a train. He then learns that the spectre which had been haunting the signalman was the driver, shouting at him to clear the way. The ending of the book isshort, with just a little conversation after we learn of the death of the signalman, which is common in horror stories of this era. This style of ending is similar to that in Captain Rogers, in which there is a death, and a sudden ending to the story. This is also the case in The Engineers Thumb, when Holmes realises that the printing press has been destroyed, and the criminals are many miles away.Another famous tale from this period is The Monkeys Paw by W.W.Jacobs. It epitomises the horror genre of this time, with suspense, mystery, death, and a super-natural theme all included in the plot.The story begins with a good use of contrast. The night was cold and wet, but inside La scorcham Villa, a fire burned brightly, as a father and son are playing a game of chess whilst an old lady sat by the fire, knitting placidly. Contrast is also used at the beginning of Captain Rogers, when a bright fire afforded a pleasant change to the chill October air outside.Description of the setting is included in the fathers dialogue Of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to see in, this is the worst. At this point, a guest knocks on the door and is invited into the house. He tells the family a tales of strange scenes and doughty deeds, a good use of repetition, and at last arrives on the subject of a monkeys paw, which had a spell put on it by an old fakir. Again, another reference to super-natural subjects. The Paw will grant three separate men each three wishes, but when asked about this, the visitors face whitened a mode commonly used in 19th Century horror to show fear.Later, the family urge the visitor (a police sergeant in the army) to let them have ownership of the paw. The sergeant is reluctant to hand it over, instead suggesting to let it burn in the fire. This leaves the reader wondering what could be so bad about the paw, which the sergeant wants to let burn in the fire. As with The Signalman, Captain Rogers, and The Engineers Thumb , it is left to the readers imaginations what the plot may be surrounding the story, confirming that it is a common characteristic of 19th Century Horror.A technique also used in thi s particular story, was the use of words such as unusual, depressing and painful to set a negative and gloomy semantic field around it, which alerts the reader to the mood of the story. Nearly every 19th Century Horror story used this method of writing, including The Signalman and Captain Rogers.These stories also use the technique of repetition to put across the meaning of a phrase or piece of dialogue more strongly. In The Monkeys Paw, a character called Herbert is sitting alone by the fire, when he sees a face so majestic and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement, in the flames. The repetition of the word so makes the adjective following it, much stronger.In The Monkeys Paw, and often in other horror novels, a short relief from the tension will be given. In The Monkeys Paw, directly after the scene in which Herbert has seen the vivid faces in the fire, there is a short scene portraying events at the breakfast table the following morning. The monkeys paw, the object of all their wonder, fear, and excitement the night before, is pitched on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened no great judgment in its virtues. The family laugh the tale of the sergeant off, making a mockery of the power of the paw.Often, horror stories of this period will add scenes such as this to modify the use of features such as irony, which is used in abundance in this scene, for example when Mrs. White asks How could two hundred pounds hurt you?. Immediately after, Herbert replies Might mould on his head from the sky. All this is ironic, as Herbert is ultimately killed by some machinery at his workforce and the family are given two hundred pounds in compensation, after Herbert used the paw to wish for two hundred pounds.The reader thinks the story has reached its climax, when the family are informed of the death of Herbert. However there is one last turn of events in the plot. Some 19th Century Horror Stories added a twist, and it proved very popular. A week af ter the death of Herbert, his incur and father eventually, after much arguing, decide to use the paw one last time tobring Herbert back to life. A loud knock resounded through the house, and his mother rushes to the door to open it for Herbert. Just when the reader thinks the mutilated body is going to be let into the house, his father realises his mistake and wishes his son away. The door is opened, but Herbert is gone. The eventual anti-climax to this twist is also used often in 19th Century Horror Stories.A twist was also included in Captain Rogers, where Rogers murders his friend, Gunn.To conclude, many different styles and techniques were used to create a Horror Story in this time, but they all had the same effect, which was to create a dark and negative semantic field which makes the story more scary and thrilling for the reader. Writers such as Dickens, Poe, Collins, Jacobs, and Doyle included vivid descriptions of setting and character to aid their writing, and add to the semantic field.