Fear in The Black Cat, Power Cut and The Landlady

Fear in The Black Cat, Power Cut and The Landlady

A climate of fear is usually created in horror and ghost stories. For

example; 'The Black Cat', 'Power Cut' and 'The Landlady'. This is

usually done by using the setting, focusing on the victim, the

villain, the language used and social, historical or cultural

differences.

The Black Cat uses the setting; the story is set in a dark dingy

cellar. The cellar is a confined space. We're told it's damp and has

recently been plastered; 'its walls were loosely constructed, and had

lately been plastered throughout with a rough plaster, which the

dampness of the atmosphere had prevented from hardening'.

We don't have much sympathy for the victim in the black cat. The

victim is the wife of the villain. We don't know anything about her,

her name isn't mentioned, she doesn't even speak and there's no

description of her. This is quite unusual for a horror story not to

focus on the victim. Normally if we get to sort of know the victim we

care more and we'd have more sympathy for them. But that doesn't

really lessen the impact of this story.

The black cat is written in first person narrative from the villain's

point of view. I don't think we are given a name for him, all we know

is he's the villain and the victim is his wife. He doesn't show any

concern for his wife, this shows he's heartless; this fact makes us

feel more sympathy for the wife. For example "I withdrew my arm from

her grasp, and buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the

spot, without a groan."

The language adds to the ways in which a climate of fear is created in

the black cat. It's quite old fashioned, for example, the words used:

'hitherto', 'wrath' and 'uplifting an axe'. The sentences are long and

complex. There are chilling references to 'the corpse' and references

to evil- 'demoniacal'. It's a very cold tone. This put together

creates tension.