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Compare And Contrast Ways In Which The Writers Create Suspense, Atmosphere And Setting In The Two Short Stories. Comment On Language And Structure. The Red Room And The Adventures Of The Speckled Band

The Red Room builds the suspension with the title; we as the reader are immediately attracted to the title "The Red Room" because it raises so much curiosity and leaves many unanswered questions. "What is the red room?" "Why is it red?" The colour red is associated with fear, danger and maybe even blood so is the room dangerous? Our minds can create so many thoughts about this one title that we are filled with an urge to read on to find the answers to our questions. With the speckled band we are made curious by red herrings and information which is very difficult to make sense of. So you carry on reading hoping to discover the elusive mystery Sherlock Holmes is attempting to solve.
The red room is set in Loaraine castle, a scary mysterious haunted place. Most of the castle is only lit with moon light with the stairs leading to the “Red room” covered in shadow, so you don’t know what could be lurking round the corner. When she enters the red the red room it is in total darkness apart from her candle. But she lights all the candles around the room making it feel safe as she can see everything until they start going out. The speckled band is set in a country town giving the feeling you can do anything and get away with it. The actual house that the story revolves around is set far away from any other houses so whatever happens there will go unnoticed very easily.
‘The Red Room’ uses metaphors to create atmosphere and suspense as it says “A monstrous shadow of him crouched upon the wall and mocked his action as he poured and drank.” This highlights one of the men as monstrous. The shadow has been given a personality and the writer talks about it as if it is its own being. This creates a gap in the readers mind to view the shadow from a different perspective.
‘The Red Room starts off by the narrator talking to the caretakers of the castle.
“I can assure you, ‘said I, ‘that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me.”
From this line, we see a glimpse of...