Surprise

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The element of surprise

Surprise is an extremely important element in the genere of horror. It doesn't have just one form of being shown, and that's what makes it a surprise! Even outside of the horror genere, this element is very present in other types of story generes, and it happens in many ways.


In order to truly understand the element of surprise and it's many forms, one must understand what surprise can be alone.


Surprise:(Noun) an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing.


Surprise is universal, and can be seen and felt in so many different ways.



Surprise is probably the most important part of a horror story. Surprise is making a reader/ viewer think that they know what is going to happen, but having something else happen instead.

Surprise is very necessary to a story,

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The Wife's Story

The wife's story follows the regular horror story of a man turning into a wolf, but there is a large twist that completely flips the story. The story opens with a married couple who live in a community of other families with their child. As the story progresses the wife notices strange things happening with her husband, and he ends up turning into a monster when the moon is full. However, instead of turning into a wolf as in most stories, the man turns into a human. This came quite as a surprise, because this flips the entire story around. In the beginning, we assume that everyone is human. In actuality, everyone in the story is actually a wolf, and this completely flips the perspective of the story. The biggest point of realization that everything is backwards is when the man is bitten on the neck as a way of death. Normal humans don't bite on the neck, they usually kill by some other form. After realizing that everyone in the story is actually a wolf, it can read in a different context, but it will still make sense. The twist of having the wolf be a man completely catches the reader off guard, and the element of surprise is perfectly executed in this story.

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Jekyll and Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starts with Mr. Utterson, an elderly lawyer, who gets told about a sinister man named Mr. Hyde who tramples a little girl, and then later pays off the family of the little girl. Mr. Utterson was worried seeing that a man named Dr. Jekyll, one of his clients, and had recently written a will transferring all his property to the same Mr. Hyde. The story then follows Mr. Utterson's journey trying to find out who Mr. Hyde is and his relation to Dr. Jekyll.

Surprise is a huge factor is the story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The first instance of surprise is how surprised and disgusted that Mr. Utterson was that Mr. Hyde would trample a young girl and then pay off her family.

A second example of surprise is when Mr. Hyde kills Sir Danvers Carew. This was surprising because Mr. Hyde was had never done anything this extreme before, and when he did it was surprising.

And, probably the most surprising part of is when Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde turn out to be the same person, but switch back and forth with the help of a potion. This is probably the most surprising part of the story. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde being the same person was very surprising and was a great way to end the mystery.

The Hanging Stranger

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The hanging stranger is a horror story that is centered around a man named Ed Loyce. At the beginning of the story, Ed goes to his job at a T.V. store, and notices something very peculiar outside of the store. A figure is hanging on a lamp post, and he quickly discovers that it is a man. No one is acknowledging the man, and at first he thinks that he is loosing his mind. The local police takes him into custody, but he immediately realizes that something is very off with the police officers, and his suspicions grow stronger. Unfortunately, his suspicions are confirmed when he realizes that there is an alien army of bugs that have taken over his town. After this horrible discovery, he runs home to get his family so they can flee, but they have already been taken over by the aliens. Ed flee's to the neighboring town of Oak Grove, and believes that they haven't been taken over yet. After making his way over to the town after a long night, he proceeds to seek help from the towns police commissioner. The commissioner agrees to help him, but is already a turned alien. Ed is killed and hung, like the man from the beginning of the story, and it used as bait to find more people who are still regular human.

The Hanging Stranger has many perfect examples of using the element of surprise, and it heavily contributes to the story in many aspects.

The first example of surprise is in the beginning of the story itself. When Ed see's the hanging man, and no one else acknowledges it. It American Society people would scream at such a sight, and no one seems to acknowledge it. This comes as a major surprise to the reader, and foreshadows that more horrible events are coming.

The second example of surprise in The Hanging Stranger is when Ed goes home to his wife and kids to discover that they have been taken over by the aliens. While earlier events in the story had seemed to show that things were going to get worse, it was very surprising to see that the aliens had already gotten to his family, and also that Ed killed his son when he realized he was already consumed.

The third and last example of surprise in story is at the very end when Ed is finally killed by the aliens. It seemed rather odd that the commissioner of Oak Grove believed him about the aliens taking over his town, but it made sense. It came quiet as a surprise when it is discovered that the commissioner had already been turned, and that he kills Ed and uses him as bait by hanging him like the stranger in the beginning of the story. Things comes around in a full 360, and another victim is already revealed to see Ed hanging. Wonder what will happen?

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The Tell-Tale Heart

In the telltale heart, a nameless man states that he is very nervous, but clarifies that he is not and was not insane. The man talks about an old man with a horrible pale blue eye with a film over it, and how he hates the old man so much that he killed him just so he wouldn't have to look at the eye ever again. He ends up smothering the old man to death and chops up his body and hides it under the floorboards. Police come, and the man assures them that there is no problem and takes them into the old mans room. He hears a terrible ticking noise that is getting louder and louder and the man freaks out and confesses to the police. He tells the police that the ticking noise was the old man's heart beating under the floorboards

The tell-tale Heart does not have very many examples of surprise but the one major one is a very good example.

The major example of surprise in this story is at the end when the man confesses and says that the noise was the still beating heart of the old man. This was very surprising in the fact that the man basically got away with it because the police already believed his story and it seemed like the man would get away with killing the old man, but man fell victim to some sort of severe nervousness, combined with severe guilt and ended up confessing and telling the police that he hid the body under the floorboards.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

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This particular horror story is set inside of a virtual world, by a computer called AM. This computer program has taken 5 people captive, the narrator of the story, Ellen, Gorrister, Benny, and Ted. AM is set on torturing them for eternity. The story picks up with one of the five individuals, Gorrister hanging himself. However, it is revealed to have been a hoax, and AM had duped the group. As the story continues more information is revealed about how AM came into existence, and why he had taken everyone captive. AM was designed to be used in the third world war, and after many changes it one day woke up with a consciousness. It proceeded to kill off everyone on the earth, except for the five characters in the group. AM continually tortures everyone in the group as they travel, and everyone in the group has changed from who they once were. The only person who was considered to be untouched is person narrating the story, and they are never named. After many horrible events take place, which include one of the characters in the group benny being turned into a gorrilla, a massive hurricane by a gigantic bird, and many other horrific events, our character narrating the story realizes that there is only one way out: by death. In the end, our main character kills everyone in an attempt to free them and it works. AM is incredibly upset, and continues to torture our main character so much so that he is reduced down to a sort of soft jelly thing that used to be a human.

Surprise played a large roll in the creepiness and shock of this story, and can be seen in many ways.

The first major presence of surprise is the beginning of the story, when Gorrister is thought to have killed himself. However once it is revealed that this is a hoax, the reader is pushed to assume that many more awful things could be happening, and that it will get much worse.

The next major presence of surprise is all throughout the story itself. Each form of torture that AM executes ranges widely, and it leaves the reader in a real suspense for what is about to happen next to the group. This follows the regular pattern of a good horror story, and it keeps the reader very engaged.