This document provides discussion questions about three Victorian ghost stories and how the authors create fear and suspense for the reader. It focuses on the story "The Red Room" and analyzes sections of the story in detail, asking how specific elements add to the tension and fright. Key aspects highlighted include how the opening grabs attention, the ominous warnings of the old characters, and the rising fear and panic depicted as the narrator experiences strange events alone in the dark red room.

1. Victorian Ghost Stories Discuss how writers create a strange and frightening experience for the reader in three different Victorian ghost stories.

2. Victorian Ghost Stories The Red Room The Monkey’s Paw Tell Tale Heart

3. Section one. Meeting the old people. Pages 43-44 Comment on how the following adds to the fear and suspense in the story: How the opening of the story grabs the reader’s attention How the response of the man with the withered arm to the narrator creates tension and suspense How the old man increase the tension through what he repeatedly says How the author creates a feeling of tension and fear through his description of the second old man in paragraph 7, and of all the old people in paragraph 11 The fact that the author does not even mention the haunted room until paragraph 12 How the old people’s reaction to him mentioning the room adds to the tension? (paragraph 13-17) How the description of his journey to the room makes the castle appear gothic?

4. Section two. On the way to the red room. Page 45 Comment on how the following adds to the fear and suspense in the story: What the narrator thinks about the old people he has met and how this adds to the reader’s fear (paragraph 27) How the writer makes the corridor seem frightening How the writer shows the narrator is becoming increasingly frightened (paragraph 28 and 29) What the narrator tells us happened to the young duke, and how this adds to the sense of fear? How effectively the writer uses the darkness and shadows to add to the frightening atmosphere?

5. Section three. Inside the red room. Pages 46-9 Comment on how the following adds to the fear and suspense in the story: How the narrator tries to get rid of the darkness in the room Why the narrator decides to find even more candles How the narrator initially reacts to the candles going out How he reacts when even the fire suddenly goes out How the language used in these paragraphs adds to the sense of the narrator’s rising fear and panic?

6. Section four. The morning after. Comment on how the following adds to the fear and suspense in the story: How the mood has suddenly changed in paragraph 38 How the old man has changed What the narrator tells the old people is the worst thing about the red room