Expertly Scaring the Readers:Hhow James and Jackson Make Hauntings Scary
If The Babadook took place in a lively, brightly-colored house over several sunny afternoons, the effect would not have been scary - humorous or ironic, but not terrifying. Hauntings and other supernatural phenomenon depend on the environment they take place in just as much as they depend on the actual horrific event happening. In addition, the presence of other characters during the haunting can determine how the event is scary because their reaction or lack of reaction can determine whether the horror stems from an unstable main character or an actual creature or monster. Henry James and Shirley Jackson understand this well; in both The Turn of the Screw …show more content…
In The Turn of the Screw, it is implied that the other characters cannot see these apparitions, making it seem like the Governess could be hallucinating each haunt. One instance is when Mrs. Jessel appears to the Governess after she and Mrs. Grose find Flora. After the Governess tells Mrs. Grose to look at the spot where she sees Mrs. Jessel, Mrs. Grose “looked, even as I did, and gave me, with her deep groan of negation, repulsion, compassion… a sense, touching to me even then, that she would have backed me up if she could,”while Flora fixes the Governess with a “small mask of reprobation” (James, 71). At the very least, it is clear that Mrs. Grose does not see the apparitions because she is actively trying to see the ghost and failing, and because Flora is preoccupied with the Governess, it is likely that she did not see Mrs. Jessel either. In addition, during the final scene where Peter Quint looks at Miles and the Governess through the window, Miles is “glaring vainly over the place and missing wholly… the wide, overwhelming presence,” (Jackson, 86). Miles cannot see the ghost despite how he desperately searches the room, so this supports that the children are also unable to see the apparitions. Because of this, there is doubt over whether any of the haunts are actually real or not; either the Governess is the only person the ghosts are showing themselves to or the hauntings are born from her imagination. This is dissimilar to The Haunting of Hill House, where several key haunts such as the picnic vision and the knockings at night are experienced by the others who also explicitly react to
If The Babadook took place in a lively, brightly-colored house over several sunny afternoons, the effect would not have been scary - humorous or ironic, but not terrifying. Hauntings and other supernatural phenomenon depend on the environment they take place in just as much as they depend on the actual horrific event happening. In addition, the presence of other characters during the haunting can determine how the event is scary because their reaction or lack of reaction can determine whether the horror stems from an unstable main character or an actual creature or monster. Henry James and Shirley Jackson understand this well; in both The Turn of the Screw …show more content…
In The Turn of the Screw, it is implied that the other characters cannot see these apparitions, making it seem like the Governess could be hallucinating each haunt. One instance is when Mrs. Jessel appears to the Governess after she and Mrs. Grose find Flora. After the Governess tells Mrs. Grose to look at the spot where she sees Mrs. Jessel, Mrs. Grose “looked, even as I did, and gave me, with her deep groan of negation, repulsion, compassion… a sense, touching to me even then, that she would have backed me up if she could,”while Flora fixes the Governess with a “small mask of reprobation” (James, 71). At the very least, it is clear that Mrs. Grose does not see the apparitions because she is actively trying to see the ghost and failing, and because Flora is preoccupied with the Governess, it is likely that she did not see Mrs. Jessel either. In addition, during the final scene where Peter Quint looks at Miles and the Governess through the window, Miles is “glaring vainly over the place and missing wholly… the wide, overwhelming presence,” (Jackson, 86). Miles cannot see the ghost despite how he desperately searches the room, so this supports that the children are also unable to see the apparitions. Because of this, there is doubt over whether any of the haunts are actually real or not; either the Governess is the only person the ghosts are showing themselves to or the hauntings are born from her imagination. This is dissimilar to The Haunting of Hill House, where several key haunts such as the picnic vision and the knockings at night are experienced by the others who also explicitly react to