Both the events and the descriptive language in "The Demon Lover" help make it a classic ghost story. Elizabeth Bowen's word usage builds suspense and an eery atmosphere by drawing on concepts, images, and actions the reader associates with being afraid.
             The author begins the story by using some trite but tried and true devices to develop the moody atmosphere. Night is falling, dark clouds are in the air and there's a rain shower. Mrs. Drover has trouble opening the door and the lock is stubborn. When she enters the house the air is "dead". She stops "dead" in the hallway when she sees the mysterious letter that has somehow been placed in the locked house. After reading the letter her lips go white with fear. These are examples of how the author plays with the human psyche using associations.
             The fiancé is purposefully kept under a veil of mystery. The fiancé was missing and presumed dead, but had said to Mrs. Drover "I shall be with you sooner or later. You won't forget that. You need to do nothing buy wait." He is seemingly implying that nothing, including his death, could stop this fated event from occuring. His name is not given, his face can not be remembered, and it is unknown when the "hour arranged" to meet is, so the reader gets the feeling that something could happen at any time.
             The anxiety builds in both Mrs. Drover and the reader up to the climax. She runs to the taxi at an "unnatural pace" and the clock strikes seven right when she puts her hand on the door. Once again, this gives the impression that this is a fated, supernatural event. She "scratches at the glass panel that divided the driver's head from her own" and the driver, who at this point the reader knows is the fiancé, stops the car and Mrs. Drover's head is flung forward. They keep getting closer to each other, and she keeps getting more vulnerable until finally she sees him and screams.
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