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There are several primary ingredients that should be present in a good murder mystery. These are a death, a motive, an alibi and a suspect.The main component is suspense, this is very important because the whole idea of a murder mystery is that the reader doesn’t know an extremely important detail. For example, in “The […]

The Comparisons between ‘The Signalman’ and ‘The Foghorn’ begin before you even start to read the actual stories. ‘The Signalman’ taken from Charles Dickens’ ‘Mugby Junction’ was written 1866 whereas ‘The Foghorn’ was written almost a century later. Charles Dickens is also a person whose name is known throughout the English speaking world, unlike Ray […]

Crime detective stories are very popular. Mid nineteenth century the morbid fascination crime began when Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes the master of detection. Since then Sherlock Holmes has been the basis of all other detectives. Stories have been based on the plot as well, because crime stroies from the nineteenth century have the […]

A mind under stress is one that has an applied force or system of forces that tends to strain or deform the brain. Stress can be a mentally or emotionally disruptive condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health e. g. increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, […]

A detective, a crime, a victim, a culprit/criminal, a suspect, a witness, mystery, suspense, clues, evidence, interviews, alibis and a twist. These are all the things good detective story will include. To compare two detective stories and see how they differ, you need to know that that they have these things in common. Both of […]

The supernatural is unpredictable and has been thought to be responsible for certain inexplicable situations. This creates a sense of fear as we know not what harm might result from the supernatural, yet we are still morbidly interested in it. The realms of science fail to provide reasonable explanations for everything and many may seek […]

The two short stories that I am comparing are the pre- twentieth century story, ‘The Speckled Band’ written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1892 to the twentieth century story, ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ written by Roald Dahl in 1954. Both stories come from different periods and this is reflected in the writing, however both […]

Mystery stories have been increasingly popular since the 19th century because they manage to intrigue readers and make them want to read more. This has happened because of what have become classic mystery and horror story ingredients that drag readers into a story and make them want to keep turning the pages. An often tense, […]

Throughout this year, I have read multiple stories and in this essay, I will compare two of them. Specifically, I will analyze the theme, content, characters, similarities, and differences between The Landlady by Roald Dahl and The Terribly Strange Bed by Willie Collins. Both stories captivated me in their own unique ways. The first story […]

Roald Dahl, born on September 13, 1916, in Llandolf, South Wales, wrote the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” in 1995. He unfortunately passed away in 1991. Among his other notable works are “BFG” and “Willy Wonka”. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland, wrote “The Speckled Band”. He also sadly […]

The stories are set in slightly different eras – ‘the signalman’ is set in the Victorian era, written by Charles Dickens, whilst ‘the Darkness out there’ is set a more recent 20th century, and written by Penelope Lively. Although both stories are set in different times, both of the script writers build up tension using […]

In this assignment I will be looking at two stories from this century and the last. I will examine the similarities and differences between them in content, style and language and I will talk about how the writers’ backgrounds influenced their stories and their way of writing. The opening page of both of the stories […]

Both stories employ distinct techniques to capture the reader by creating suspense and tension. Despite their differences, the narratives share a commonality in their depiction of horrifying deaths and tragedies. Additionally, the stories were written in different time periods, catering to audiences with varying notions of fear and intrigue. “The Darkness Out There” hails from […]

‘The Tell Tale Heart,’ by Allan Poe, is a story about an insane man telling the reader how he killed an old, kind man who has never wronged him and also trying to prove his sanity to the reader. He murders the old, defenceless man in the bedroom of the old mans house, whilst he […]

a) Based upon Massaud Moisés’ definition, we can affirm “The Signalman”, by Charles Dickens, belongs to the Gothic Fiction genre. For it has most of the elements that belongs to Gothic writing, such as mystery and horror in the plot, the presence of the supernatural, and the absence of light in a gloomy setting, which […]

Both stories, ‘The Red Room’ and the second one, exemplify gothic horror elements. However, ‘The Red Room’ is more representative of the conventional gothic horror model. The story incorporates various gothic elements throughout its narrative. One such element is the presence of a pursued protagonist. The protagonist in ‘The Red Room’ adheres to stereotypical traits […]

The tradition of the mystery story begins with Gothic writing, around 1810. From the Gothic story sub-categories were then created through a progression of stories. These further categories were ghost story, horror and detective. Each different category has some common key features which help to distinguish them and some other, now well known, stereotypical characteristics. […]

“Lamb To The Slaughter” and “The Speckled Band” are two murder stories that offer contrasting perspectives. “Lamb to the Slaughter,” written by Roald Dahl in the 1950s, focuses on a pregnant housewife named Mrs. Maloney. Each day, she eagerly awaits her husband’s return from work, longing for companionship. However, this seemingly innocent and vulnerable character […]

In all of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, the theme of alienation is portrayed at different levels. Most of the characters suffer from moral corruption, mental illness and grotesque appearances. This instantly suggests to us that these characters may be alienated from the rest of their society, as they may be viewed as strangers. The story […]

In this essay, I will be comparing two stories: ‘The Whole Town’s Sleeping’ by Ray Bradbury and ‘A Terribly Strange Bed’ by Wilkie Collins. Despite being written in different centuries (one in the 19th Century and the other in the 20th Century), both authors successfully evoke fear in readers and create high-quality thriller stories. I […]

Fear stories are tales that many people enjoy reading. The thrill and excitement and the pure exuberance involves them in the twisted storylines. People all over the world from all aspects of society enjoy them. We enjoy being ‘scared’ in the comfort of our own homes or in the cinema. It gives us an ultimate […]

“The Signalman” by Charles Dickens is the first story I will discuss. It was written in the 1840’s or 1850’s, during a time when people believed in rational explanations for everything. However, Dickens challenges this belief by presenting a ghost story without a clear explanation, allowing readers to engage their imaginations. The story centers around […]