Tension In The Red Room

The Red Room builds the suspension with the title; we as the reader are immediately attracted to the title "The Red Room" because it raises so much curiosity and leaves many unanswered questions. "What is the red room?" "Why is it red?" The colour red is associated with fear, danger and maybe even blood so is the room dangerous? Our minds can create so many thoughts about this one title that we are filled with an urge to read on to find the answers to our questions. With the speckled band we are made curious by red herrings and information which is very difficult to make sense of. So you carry on reading hoping to discover the elusive mystery Sherlock Holmes is attempting to solve.
The red room is set in Loaraine castle, a scary mysterious
“... gave me the impression of someone crouching to way lay me.”
Not knowing what it is, it builds tension rapidly as he advances towards it. Here the author instigates an anti-climax releasing us slightly from the tension. The author relieves the reader by revealing that it is only a statue. Statues in the dark are classic elements to a ghost story. Often in human form they make you feel as though you are being watched when you pass by them. Due to this, we take little comfort in them as we can feel that he is coming closer to the red room.
On entering the red room, he locks the door behind him to prevent anything following him inside but he cannot get out. He arranges the furniture to suit himself giving the reader a momentary release. However, when he becomes aware of the shadows, the tension instantly rises again. It is typical that the lights begin to go out at midnight. These elements just make the story more intense.
The metaphor used to describe his candle shows how much he relies on it;
“A little tongue of light in its vastness, that has failed to pierce the opposite end of the room.”
The fact that he places his revolver directly in front of him shows the reader that he is scared and so we become increasingly scared