The titles of the two stories tell us a lot about the writer and the story. The title 'Red Room' immediately attracts the reader's attention. It provokes questions such as: 'What/where is the Red Room?' and 'Why is it red?' The colour red is symbolic - used in a title it evokes feelings of fear, anticipation, danger and dread. These are some feelings associated with the colour red.

'Farthing House', however, is not quite so effective. The name of the house is not particularly terrifying, nor does it induce such

I find Farthing House more satisfying to read because we know what happens, and who the ghost is. Red Room I find is scarier, whereas Farthing House is deeper and more emotional, and more mysterious, and I think more believable. I don't like the end of Farthing House, however, because it is a little confusing, and is not quite so believable. I like the way the tension builds up in Red Room, and the language used about the shadows and the light is very effective. Red Room is more simple I think, as it plays with the idea of dark and light, good and evil, etc., which is very effective in its own way. However, Farthing House is very effective too, with the writer's use of short, one sentence paragraphs and description of feelings and setting.

The narrator empathises with the ghost, because she appears to be crying out for her baby. The narrator is not scared, just sad for this poor girl, because the writer knows what it is like to have a child. At this point, the reader knows that it is a ghost, but the writer appears not to know. As the ghost leaves, the narrator follows. She describes the corridor: 'it was lit as if by a low, flickering candle flame...' I think candles are used because they are reminiscent of a more ghostly time, where night was not so easily evaded, like it is now because we have artificial lights. Flames are also more unpredictable and unreliable - it is easy to make them go out. This adds to the fear and tension, especially in Red Room. She also says: 'the wood looked darker, and there were some pictures... I had not noticed before...' This suggests that perhaps the writer has gone back in time, or is walking through an echo of the past - instead of being scary, this is more mysterious, and gets the reader thinking. She also describes the cold again: 'my breath made little haws of white in front of my face...' Before she enters her room, she hears the sobbing again, except this time ' it might have been of a name...' This suggests that she is calling for her baby. This idea is revisited at the end of the story when the narrator sees the graves.

Both stories are written in the first person, but the 'Red Room' writes it more of an account. He describes what is going on, but doesn't really try to relate his own feelings to the reader. Instead I think Wells relies on the reader's feelings to fill the space of the main characters feelings. This means that the feelings felt by one reader could vary from the next, making the story a little more open to

Some common words found in the essay are:
Susan Hill, Farthing House, Red Room', Room' HG, farthing house, susan hill, feelings reader, 'red room', , 'farthing house', short sharp, reader's feelings, red scarier, echo past, scary mysterious,
Approximate Word count = 1679
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)