Suspense In Short Story

Webster’s Dictionary defines suspense as, “a mental uncertainty or anxiety or the state of being undecided or doubtful.” By using mystery elements in his or her writing, an author can give the readers the uncomfortable feeling of suspense while reading their suspenseful text. In various short stories, mystery elements create suspense in a variety of ways. The short stories, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” by Roald Dahl, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and “Invitation to a Murder,” by Josh Pachter create suspense as a result of the mystery elements they contain. “Lamb to the Slaughter” is one of the many examples of texts that includes suspense, which the author created throughout the story. First off, Roald Dahl’s shocking mystery, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” has elements such as dramatic irony, inference gaps, and red herrings that help build a suspenseful feeling within the reader. This story is about a woman who murders her husband out of shock, and covers her footprints almost perfectly. To begin, in the

In Roald Dahl’s, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” the author’s use of dramatic irony gave the reader the uncertainty of what is to come; for example, the detectives in the text ended up eating the murder weapon, and it is unsure whether or not they are going to figure out the crime. By using clues throughout the story, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was able to create suspense in his mystery,” The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” by included details such as the whistle, dummy bell bull, broken ventilator, and more. “Invitation to a Murder,” by Josh Pachter included red herrings, the weapons on the table, to have readers question if they were going to used to commit the crime. As Robert Burns one described, “Suspense is worse than