Writing to Entertain - Lesson 2 - The Red Room Worksheet

Within the atmospheric confines of "The Red Room" by H.G. Wells, a tale of suspense and the supernatural unfolds. The narrator, a self-assured individual, boldly declares his skepticism of ghosts, standing before the fire with a drink in hand, only to be met with cryptic warnings from the peculiar inhabitants of the house. An old man with a withered arm ominously reminds the narrator that the venture into the Red Room is by his own choice, while an old woman, her gaze intensely fixed on the fire, ominously suggests that despite the narrator's twenty-eight years of life, he has yet to witness the haunting peculiarities of such a house as theirs. The foreboding atmosphere is amplified by her haunting words, hinting at the many sights and sorrows that come with age.

The scene becomes increasingly eerie as a second old man enters, his presence marked by the sound of a stick tapping on the stone passage and the creak of the door. This new arrival, even more decrepit than the first, with a shaded gaze and decaying features, takes his place in the room with a clumsy cough. The man with the withered arm looks on with evident distaste, while the old woman continues to ignore everything but the mesmerizing dance of the flames before her. All the while, the narrator observes the strange company and the distorted reflection in an antique mirror, his resolve to face the night with an open mind hanging in the balance amidst the gathering shadows and the unspoken tension in the air.