Setting the Atmosphere in The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death and Pickman’s Model and The Lottery
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date published 22/10/2007
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Summary“It was a dark and stormy night…” Classic, word-of-mouth horror stories begin with this line. What is it about the “dark and stormy night” that should cause us, the reader, to feel anxiety and fear about the story about to be told? Horror stories cannot begin without a sense of mood and atmosphere. There must be a sense of foreboding, of terror imbedded in the atmosphere, to cause the reader to flip the pages with wide eyes and fear stricken urgency. Describing the atmosphere plays a key part in horror stories; the author creates a place, a setting, a mood that scares us and yet, intrigues our curiosity of the elements. Although we are afraid, we want to experience aspects of terror. “It was a dark and stormy night…” sets the mood for the story and establishes an atmosphere that will allow the horrifying, terrifying, and even improbable events to unfold.
Table of Contents
- Edgar Allen Poe is a master at creating a sense of atmosphere in his horror stories.
- The opening scene of Montresor discussing with Fortunato during the Carnival is well done on Poe's part.
- Only Poe could make such an ugly classification beautiful through his prose.
- At first Fortunato's screams startle Montresor, because he thinks that somebody might hear his victim.
- The quote explains the extent of the external atmosphere; that in order to survive the 'Red Death', one would need a wall with gates of iron.
- By Prospero shutting him and a few thousand of his loyal subjects in from the external atmosphere, he creates an intriguing atmosphere within the castle.
- Causing the orchestra to stop mid-performance and listen to the thundering clock is awesome in its effect.
- Poe has shown that terror lies in the atmosphere, but the landscapes aren't familiar to the modern day reader.
- The passage describes the setting leading to Pickman's workspace.
- Familiarity is also preyed upon in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.
- There are thousands of small towns across America, places where life is moved at a slower pace, the people are friendly, and nature is everywhere.
- Atmosphere is important in a horror story; it sets the mood, the background, for which the horror will take place.
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