Compare And Contrast House Taken Over And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

In both stories the author portrays a sense of horror to the reader. “The Fall of the House of Usher”, presents a creepier mood and is in the Gothic Literature genre. Gothic Literature is a genre that is represented by dark and gloomy mood. It is characterized by elements such as tortured characters, dramatic language, remote settings, and violence. “House Taken Over”, on the other hand presents a calmer mood through the actions of the characters and is in the genre of Magical Realism. Magical Realism is a genre that has more to do with fantasy than it does with fear. The differences between the two genres can explain the different attempts from the authors to portray fear to the reader.
Although the stories were hard to understand, “The Fall of the House of Usher” more than “House Taken Over”, both of the authors did a great job at representing the genre of their story. The setting that Edgar Allen Poe presented in “The Fall of the House of Usher” was very bleak, in the short story Poe mentions things like
In the story the author used both reality and fantasy ( the supernatural being that took over the house) to create a sense of eeriness. The characters spend their days doing normal things like cleaning and knitting, and acting like absolutely nothing is wrong, which is an example of a recognizable character. Everything in the house is according to the narrator, “nothing special”, which is a great example of one of the key elements, a realistic setting. While the characters are acting as nothing is wrong, a supernatural being is beginning to take over the house, and eventually completely takes over the entire house. Throughout the entire story the characters keep an uninterested tone, they always seem to be calm. The author’s use of these elements in the story helps it to be an excellent example of the Magical Realism