The stories 'Lost Hearts' and 'The Red Room' both portray the typical ingredients of a ghost story. They vividly illustrate the common factors that are found in 19th Century ghost stories. These include creating the right atmosphere and setting. Bad weather and a feeling of darkness are the usual ways in which the authors convey a ghostly atmosphere. In The Red Room the young man walked through 'the long, draughty subterranean passage was chilly and dusty' His 'candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver.' This gives the reader a feeling of darkness about it and creates a chilling atmosphere and sets the scene for what might ensue.

Likewise, old or dilapidated buildings are often found in every ghost story. This is because having a big old building can give an eerie atmosphere, consequently representing the concept of isolation. The human is small in comparison to...