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The two stories, “The Landlady”-Roald Dahl and “A teribly strange bed”-Wilkie Collins, are both very similar in terms of genre, central characters and events. The genre in both stories is suspence but also, more so in “The Landlady”, an air of mystery. The central characters are both in a ‘foreign’ city and are provoked to […]

Today, interest in the supernatural genre is mainly focused on two categories of beings, the good and the evil. There are many comic book and film heroes such as “Superman” who are good supernatural characters and fight to help the world; at the same time there are many evil supernatural beings, which mainly appear in […]

For our chosen text we read “The Signalman” by Charles Dickens. This short story was written about one hundred and fifty years ago, therefore it was written for a purpose that we would not write for today. Dickens would have written this story to be read out to a public audience. This was because it […]

“The Speckled Band” and “Lamb to the Slaughter” were written in different time periods; the former in the 19th century and the latter in the 1950s. There are noticeable variations in style, vocabulary, and technique employed in both tales. The opening paragraph of “The Speckled Band” is presented as a narrative spoken by Dr Watson, […]

These two short stories belong to the mystery genre and use some of the typical elements of the mystery and ghost story genre periodically. The four aspects of these ghost stories I am going to investigate and compare between the two stories respectively are; Plot, Setting, Style, and character. “Bang Bangs who’s dead? ” is […]

At noon during sunset, I first encountered Mr Head. I called out to him, saying “Halloa! Below there!” Instead of looking up, he looked towards the tunnel entrance where a red light was present. So, I repeated myself and shouted ‘hallao! Bellow!’ This time, he looked up. I asked if there was a way for […]

Originally stories were sung or spoken and handed down through word of mouth from one person to another. There were thousands of traditional stories all over the world, from King Arthur and his knights of the round table in Britain to Hercules and the Gods on Mount Olympus in Greece. In the middle ages this […]

This essay evaluates the application of tension and suspense in Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter” and Charles Dickens’ “The Signalman”. Tension pertains to mental strain or excitement, while suspense involves anxious uncertainty or anticipation when information is deliberately withheld. Born in 1812, Charles Dickens experienced the industrial revolution and wrote extensively about living conditions […]

In analyzing four works by Charles Dickens, specifically the Queer Chair, Goblins who stole a Sexton, The Signalman, and The Baron of Grogzwig, I have observed that the author portrays ghosts in different manners throughout each story. I will assess whether Dickens presents these specters as malevolent or benevolent and attempt to ascertain the reasons […]

‘The Red Room’ by H. G. Wells, ‘The Clubfooted Grocer’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and ‘The Signal Man’ by Charles Dickens are all short stories set in the nineteenth century. Knowing this the reader gets the impression that the stories will be taking him or her back in time. The author makes the reader […]

Both Lamb to the slaughter and The speckled band are murder mysteries. Although they both include factors, which make a typical murder mystery, they are both very different. In this essay I will compare both stories and look at how they are different, how they are similar and what effect this has on the reader. […]

In this essay I am going to explain the main differences between ‘Lamb to the slaughter’ and ‘Speckled Band’. Roald Dahl wrote ‘Lamb to the slaughter’ in 1954 where as ‘Speckled Band’ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in 1892, so already here there is a contrast, the stories were written in different time periods. ‘ […]

The opening scene of the signalman consists of wide-open spaces and lots of description to give you the feeling of desolation and isolation. This is emphasised by people on trains going past, getting on with their lives whilst he is stuck in a rut at this signal post. The signalman in the title is physically […]

“Nothing to extravagant, no straightforward endings” this is how Susan Hill, the author of ‘The Woman In Black’ describes a perfect ghost story. Her own advice obviously paid off, as her famous novel was turned into a West End production at the Fortune Theatre, London and has been running for a long fourteen years. I […]

The following essay is going to compare `Lamb to the Slaughter`; a modern murder mystery to a more stereotypical one; `The Speckled Band`. `Lamb to the Slaughter` was written by Rohl Dahl in 1954, this means he has added newer ideas into his short story such as a woman murderer. Whereas Sir Arthur Conan Doyle […]

The stories which I have chosen to explain how the writers keep the reader involved and interested in the story are “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl and “The Flypaper” by Elizabeth Taylor. In “the Flypaper” we learn that Sylvia is scared and she puts up with unpleasant experiences […]

The short stories ‘The Signalman,’ and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ can be both categorised as gothic horror, as various elements of horror can be found within. The authors, Dickens and Gilman successfully convey this to us through their concepts, their use of language, as well as their characters, which are all significant components of the story. […]

In this essay I am going to discuss how Dahl uses language, characters, and objects to create tension and unease in the story “The Landlady”. The story begins by describing a long train journey taken by Billy Weaver. When he arrived “it was about nine o clock in the evening and the moon was coming […]

” The Black Veil” was written early in Dickens’ work, circa 1840’s so it is a pre-twentieth century story. “The Darkness out There” is a more modern story written by Penelope Lively around 1985. ” The Black Veil” belongs to the horror, suspense genre, a classic thriller where the solution is provided at the end. […]

English ghost stories became popular in 1855 when a tax reform brought about the withdrawal of duty on newspapers. This brought about a magazine boom that fed the large literate middle class who were thirsty for sensation. To satisfy their readers, magazines needed stories and promised “fiction of powerful interest”. Charles Dickens owned one of […]

The purpose of writing about the supernatural is to interest the reader into depth and mystery, and get the reader involved quickly, these are one of the best wide spread mysteries all over the world. Are ghosts real?. As readers of the supernatural, we expect to be entertained by a suspenseful tale of dark fantasy […]

The first gothic short story was written by Horace Walpole in 1765. The first gothic short story was called “the caste log Otranto”; from this the whole gothic short story tradition began when readers found this novel to be electrifying, original, thrilling and suspenseful. Gothic short stories are based on the supernatural, and its medieval […]