Short stories usually have to start well to attract a reader's attention and keep it throughout. The best way to do this is to begin with an enticing level of tension and keep building up throughout the story. Wells uses literary techniques such as short clauses and good word choice to build up the tension. By doing so, he had written a story that is gripping and filled with tension.
             The title immediately attracts the reader's attention, and impresses upon readers as something sinister, as the color red is associated with fear and danger. A reader who read the title might ask, "What is so sinister about the Red Room?" The title raises so much curiosity that it has an overwhelming effect, wanting the reader to read on and find answers. The title suggests that the story is about a red room, and something fearful or sinister happens.
             The first line of any story is very important, as it has a very strong influence and should reflect the mood of the entire story. The narrator successfully sets the mood with the opening statement of "I can assure you that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me." The statement is bold, and leaves an impact that the narrator feels no fear at all; in fact, it can be inferred that the narrator makes fun and jokes with the notion of the existence of ghosts. It is also important in the fact that it tells us that there is a ghost involved in the story (which builds up tension), and that the narrator is an educated man. This immediately poses a conflict, educated men do not believe in ghosts. He seems very self centered and indifferent towards the woman and the two old men. The three elderly people are opposites of the young narrator. Opposites build drama, and drama builds tension. It is also the young against the old, the inexperienced against the wise. Repetition is also a device used by Wells to build tension. One of the most obvious examples in the whole story is...