Haunted House

It is because of Edgar Allen Poe's short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher", that horror stories are so popular and so common today. But what made "The Fall of the House of Usher" so great that a lot of people decided to base their stories off of it? In his story, Poe used multiple strategies that later on became a key component of horror stories. Five of the components that I would use if I were to write a haunted house story are the creepy setting, imagery, looking through a narrator's perspective, weird behaviors, and a vague ending.

Creepy settings are a must in any horror stories. They are what lets the readers know what type of a story it will be. Poe started "The Fall of the House of Usher" by describing the where the story took place and how the readers should imagine how the mansion and its surroundings would look. That type figurative language can also be called imagery. Poe used imagery throughout the story to keep the reader's attention and have them continue to be interested.

Having a limited view or viewing from someone else's perspective is another important factor. In "The Fall of the House of Usher", Poe had us see the story from a narrator's perspective. This creates suspense and grabs the reader's attention and makes them want to keep reading in order to find out what is coming up. The characters' weird behaviors also tie in with the limited knowledge of what is going on in the story. The other characters are able to do anything and everything that they want, but the only thoughts that the readers will be able to know is the narrator's thoughts and how they believe things happened. This is important because it brings another level to the suspense of the story.

Last component is the vague ending. The lack of closure lets the readers explore within their imagination on what could have been. "The Fall of the House of Usher" ended with such vague ending that the readers are left with millions of ideas of how they think the story would actually end. 

These five components are exactly what I would use to create a perfect horror story. Each factor leads you one step closer to success, which is the reason why I would want to use them.