Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

My sense of false security and freedom at house came crushing down. On this particular day, I was devastated and distraught by the criminal underworld. Someone had just invaded my space, I felt powerless. I had seen similar violations of the law and the destruction on television and newspapers never thought I would be visited by the same fate. i had felt scared and agitated at the new concept of having to know that I wasn’t as safe as I originally thought I was. I had just dropped my father at…

The overall mood of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” is sinister and foreboding. In order to convey this, Poe employs the narrative’s setting. “The Cask of Amontillado” is a short story about an Italian man named Montresor, who desires vengeance on his wealthy acquaintance, Fortunato, for reasons not quite clarified to the reader. The story opens at “dusk… during the supreme madness of the carnival season” (501). Dusk, the period of time just before night sets in, is a setting…

If you have read the short stories The Tell Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher, you might wonder what are some of the similarities between them. Will they were both written by Edgar Allan Poe. Both of the stories had the deaths of main characters. Also one person from each story went mad. In both stories insanity decides how the story ends. People close to Edgar Allan Poe died for example his wife and mother. To top it off he might have been there as a young child when his mother…

In Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “The pit and the pendulum,” poe, uses the horror elements of fight or flight, suspense, and madness. In The pit and pendulum Edgar Poe is constantly in situations that bring suspense, like when he was under the pendulum waiting for death, or when he saw an exit and heard people it brings suspense bc he doesn't know if he's going to make it out and live or not, “I saw them fashion the syllables of my name.” This story shows fight or flight bc the story is about him…

Stephen King’s “The Reaper’s Image” can be classified as a gothic tale. In “The Reaper’s Image,” two men are moving an infamous mirror to the attic of a mansion, in which you learn the history of said mirror and the supernatural things that happen with the glass. “The Reaper’s Image” is a gothic tale because it has elements of a bleak setting, tortured characters, and the supernatural. In the short story “The Reaper’s Image,” Stephen King includes elements of a bleak setting, creating the mood…

“The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe wrote about one of his fears in his story “The Cask of Amontillado”. Imagery plays a big part in this story. It helps the reader visualize the events taking place in the story. Poe uses imagery to add fear and suspense to the story. Edgar Allan Poe uses imagery when he explains about leading Fortunato to the dungeon. “Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris.”(87-88) This…

story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, there is a variety of elements that make it fit into the horror genre including suspense, setting, and the organization of the narrative. All these components are critical to the makeup of any narrative that is meant to thrill and scare. These three segments come together to create the feeling the author would like to radiate to the readers; horror. To begin with, suspense is included in mostly every horror based movie, book, and tale. As…

In what way does transformation play a role in stories meant to scare us? Transformation plays a large role in most stories meant to scare us. In these stories, transformation is what can either get the reader on the edge of their seat, or can change the story to much and make people lose interested in reader. In a scary story, transformation of something such as a character, or a setting, can build major suspense / fright which could be something the reader didn't expect “Beware: do not read…

The Raven and The Fall of The House of Usher were written by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe uses a gothic style in both stories. Gloomy, dark, and dull are some of the words that can describe the setting. The Raven takes place on a cold December day at midnight, The Fall of the House of Usher takes place in autumn. Some say both are dreary. A nameless narrator was invited to see his ‘sick’ friend. Usher tells the narrator it’s the house making him sick. Sometime during his stay, Madeline suddenly dies of…

Two authors, two stories, many differences, but many similarities. In theses gothic literature stories, the authors both give different meanings in each story. Both House Taken Over and Fall Of The House Of Usher have a pair of siblings as main character. In each narrative fiction, there is a story behind these characters. All very different. In one there is death, while in another there is survival. However, to fully experience the similarity and differences you must read between the lines.…