The Speckled Band and the Signalman

The Atmosphere of Mystery and Fear in The Speckled Band and The Signalman

'The Speckled Band' and 'The Signalman' use language in different ways
to make an atmosphere of mystery and fear. These two stories are of a
different genre, 'The Speckled Band' is a detective mystery, one of
the first of its kind and 'The Signalman' is a supernatural story, yet
they are similar as they are both pieces of pre 1914.

One of the similarities of both these stories is that the stories are
both in first person narrative and by doing this they make the
character normal, this helps you get into the story and see it through
the eyes of this character. Being written in this way helps the reader
identify different clues and aspects of the story and helps the reader
share the experience and the build up of the feeling of fear and
mystery in his character and people around him help build up fear and
mystery in the reader.

'The Speckled Band' is set in the Victorian age, and is one of the
first detective mystery short stories ever. 'The Speckled Band' uses
different ways to build up an atmosphere of mystery by using language
which is evocative of a feeling of mystery; this is done by using a
number of metaphors and clever uses of the English language such as
descriptive language and use of imagery to create this atmosphere.
Using language such as "Oh sir, do you not think you could help me
too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness that
surrounds me?" In this sentence the reader is introduced to an
atmosphere of fear, evil and mystery. It does this because it links
the story to struggle and darkness, which are linked to evil fear and
mystery. Dense darkness is mentioned, this emphasises the darkness and
the mysterious nature of it. "Her face all drawn and grey, with
restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal" this
quote uses descriptive language, like the simile "like those of a
hunted animal" This is a way In which...