I was inspired by "The Woman in Black" by Susan Hill to write a short extract from the novel. The Woman in Black focuses on the protagonist, Arthur Kipps, who is the hero of the novel and attempts to defeat the ghost who, in this novel, is the villain. I decided to explore the uses of characterization and the hero-villain idea by reversing the roles so in my novel extract, the protagonist is the ghost and will also turn out to be the hero. I set my novel in the same time period that Hill set his novel, presumably in the 19th century, but we don't know for sure because there is no solid evidence in his writing. As the excerpt I wrote is the opening of a novel, I tried to effectively pique readers' interest and set the scene for the rest of the novel. I used a pathetic fallacy to do this by starting with a paragraph setting the scene with a pathetic fallacy such as "the wind blew cold and violent" and it "pierced violently through his skin." This is similar to the beginning of Chapter 2, A London Particular in The Woman in Black. Hill uses fog to create suspense and lead the reader to believe that the fog and overall "gloomy" weather are hinting at the negative things about to happen later in the novel. This is the effect I tried to create in my own writings, especially when the "snowflakes melted when they met the intense heat from within", which shows that the snowflakes that “float gracefully” come to an “abrupt end,” which is a warning. to the reader that even though everything happens much later in the novel, all is not what it seems and there will be an abrupt and negative ending, just like at the end of The Woman in Black. This type of ending is often used in the gothic horror genre and John Maloley will be no different. I...... middle of paper ......f pathetic error, the hidden secrets and lies and the determination to find a solution that makes its appearance towards the end of the opening. I think the scene the novel takes place in is very effective because it hints at a more negative ending and leaves the reader feeling uncomfortable and nervous, which is what the genre exists for. however, I think other aspects of the 19th century could be incorporated, such as the way Hill writes about ponies and traps as a mode of transportation. This might become more evident later in the novel, however. The Woman in Black inspired me to create a creepy gothic ghost story and to work on the weather and location being very similar however, using a ghost protagonist instead, overlooking the big picture from one point different view while incorporating the usual. characteristics of the ghost story. Works Cited The Woman in Black