Genre Essays

Early horror literature came out of a mix of the upcoming of romanticism, the decline of the enlightenment, and most of all from early gothic traditions themselves. Neo-gothic interests greatly sparked the minds of many 18th century writers, Edgar Allen Poe being one of them. Poe is classified as an American Horror author of the […]

Mary Shelley incorporates elements of Gothic literature and Romanticism in her novel to create an engaging and captivating genre that connects to other horror tales while revealing the true nature of darkness and love. Through her character Victor, she portrays the consequences of delving into supernatural forces of nature and the value of love. Shelley […]

In this discussion, I will examine how three 19th century Gothic tales by different authors induce fear and atmosphere. The stories under analysis are The Monkeys Paw by WW Jacobs, Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Body Snatchers, and Charles Dickens’ The Signal Man. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Gothic genre was immensely popular […]

Assuming he is Mr Hyde. Stevenson’s novel Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde focuses on the concept of searching or being fixated on unknown or supernatural, represented by the character of Mr Seek who declares, “I shall be Mr Seek.” Both nineteenth and twentieth century gothic literature vividly illustrate the obsession with knowledge or the unknown. […]

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886, a time where the “Gothic Horror” story was at its fullest expression, and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde continues to remain one of the most well written, exciting and terrifying Gothic Horror stories to date. The Gothic Horror […]

‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has appealed to a wide audience from the first time it was published in 1886 to the present day. What do you think are the reasons for this? ‘ The story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was first published in a time when classes separated the rich and the […]

The Gothic Novel is a type of prose fiction, first introduced around the 1760s by Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764). This style of writing was popular until the mid 1800s. Primary examples of the Gothic Novel are William Beckford’s Vathek in 1786, and perhaps the best known, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein […]

The texts chosen for this study are: ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘An Encounter’ by James Joyce which, I feel, are appropriate as they provide comprehensive coverage of the themes analysed whilst managing to cover a historical period of some seventy years1. Poe’s piece is a dark, Gothic work which […]

Looking further into the aspects of Gothic Horror, three short stories, `The Black Cottage’ by Wilkie Collins, `The Old Nurse’s Story’, by Elizabeth Gaskell, and `The Black Veil’ by Charles Dickens were written to suit Victorian tastes, containing morals that still make readers think about life. The writers make different choices and decisions about the […]

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 […]

The Red Room, a tale by HG Wells, recounts the experience of a man who embarks on a ghost hunting expedition to an antique castle. His endeavor yields success despite a close call with candles during his watch. Meanwhile, The Signalman written by Dickens, tells the story of a man haunted by spectral figures that […]

The red-room, a spare chamber where Mr. Reed died nine years ago, is a Gothic setting designed to create a terrifying image of the place Jane is confined to. The environment was solemn because it was rarely entered, and the room was quiet because it was far from the nursery and kitchens. Within the room, […]

This essay aims to compare and discuss the influence of gothic elements in ‘The Red Room’ by H. G. Wells, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte and ‘I’m the King of the Castle’ by Susan Hill. Gothic fiction, a genre that prevailed in English literature from the late 18th century to the early 19th century, typically […]

Wells was born in the year ‘The Signalman’ was written. Like Dickens, he was of poor parents. He went to night school to better himself to be trained as a teacher. He was lectured by T. H Huxley, the famous Darwinist (The belief in the theory of evolution) and developed a life long interest in […]

“The Red Room” was appealing to the Victorians as it was indeed quite a short story, Reading a story in less than say an hour gave them a great sense of achievement as they started and finished quite quickly. Through reading and understanding the plot and essence of the story they would be able to […]

H. G. Wells was a writer with several identities. Most of Wells’ short stories were written about the marvels of science, but the genre of this one, is based on a gothic mystery. A gothic story is a romantic fiction with its setting usually in a ruined gothic castle or abbey. It emphasised mystery and […]

Two short stories titled the Red Room by H G Wells and Examination Day by Henry Slesar, have used different techniques to build up a fear and tension in their stories. The Red Room was set in the 19th century and was aimed at Victorian readers who liked ghost and mystery stories. The Red Room […]

Using reference to style and content I will explain how and why these two short stories are typical 19th century stories. The two short stories that we have read, ‘ The Red Room’ by H.G. Wells and ‘The Judges House’ by Bram Stoker, are heavily concerned with the supernatural world, with people in the Victorian […]

This piece of writing will evaluate the creation of fear, suspense, and atmosphere in ‘The Red Room’ by H G Wells and ‘The Whole Towns Sleeping’ by Ray Bradbury. The text will compare and contrast the techniques utilized by both authors. ‘The Red Room’, a gothic horror, and ‘The Whole Towns Sleeping’, a fear story, […]

Language was used effectively by mystery writers in the 19th Century to create a feeling of terror in their readers. With regard to the three short stories you have read, namely “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, “The Red Room” by H.G. Wells, and “The Judge’s House” by Bram Stoker, discuss the following: These three […]

Herbert George Wells, now more commonly known as HG Wells was born on September 21, 1866. One of the most defining incidents of his life is said to be an accident he had in 1874, when he was seven years old, which left him bedridden with a broken leg. To pass the time he started […]

Recently we have been studying the film Sleepy Hollow. In this essay I am going to explain how the genre of Sleepy Hollow is established in the opening sequence.The opening of any film is important for many reasons. One is that it sets the tone of the film. In Sleepy Hollow there is a “scary” […]