Compare The Ostler and The Darkness Out There Essay -- English Literat

Compare The Ostler and The Darkness pop out ThereIn this essay I will compare two stories - The Ostler, written in thenineteenth century by a man called Wilkie Coliins, and The Darkness OutThere, by Penelope Lively, written in the 20th century. They are bothhorror stories, a genre which has been popular throughout the 19th, 20thand 21st centuries. This is perhaps because, since we are no longerscared on a daily basis, as would get been the case in medievaltimes, we need to find an artificial musical mode of creating the thrill.I will look at the similarities and differences between the way each narrative is structured, the build up of tension, the settings and thecharacters. First I will summarise each story and look at their 19thand 20th century features.The Ostler is around an unlucky, not very bright man who has a veryvivid dream on his birthday that a woman is trying to kill him. eldlater, also on his birthday, he meets this woman again and getsengaged to her before he reali ses who she is. By the time his motherrealises, it is to late and he feels he has to attach her. She turnsout to be an alcoholic and one day, after she is start outicularly cruel tohim, Isaac hits her. She runs away, and comes back seven days later,on the night of his birthday, to try and attack him, in exactly thesame way as the dream-woman did. He manages to stop her and she runsaway again, this time never to be seen again, but Isaac continues tobe terrified that she will sideboard and kill him, especially on hisbirthday.The Darkness Out There is about two teenagers who are part of a groupwhich helps out old lot with things like cleaning and gardening.They go to help one old lady and she tells them a how, in the war, shel... ...an peoplesminds.The stories are similar in that nothing too horrendous actually happensin either of them. They are more about the characters fears.Personally, I liked The Ostler less than The Darkness Out There, as itdeals with a more supernatural ho rror which only affects the characterin the story, and so did not have such an impact on me. I liked TheDarkness Out There as it makes you think, and it applies to everyone,which makes it truly chilling. At the end Sandra is changed forever.The wood is emptied of the fictional witches, wolves, tigers andprowling blokes, but this does not make her feel better. The old fearswere in a way comforting - It was cosy to think of Packers End,where you werent, but the new fear cannot be shut out or escapedfrom because it is a part of her, a part of every human that iscapable of unspeakable horror.