Nightmare bait

Wow… this story was really something. I had to read it twice, trying to understand how Oates made it so cinematic. I noticed that she revealed major parts of the plot slowly, and subtly, so much that I doubted if I was understanding things properly. As a reader, I doubted my eyes as much as Connie. One example of this is how the supernatural is mixed with the everyday. Personal, lighthearted details were mixed with the ‘action’ of the story. For instance, the parents' barbeque and Arnold Friend’s obsessive stalking capability.

Oates had a tendency to make things dreamy, so my expectations as a reader are lulled a bit, making me less anxious. Putting your reader on edge constantly is probably a poor tactic since they will always be expecting the twist.

Suspense was also built up by the changing pace of the story. Oates used metaphors a lot to set the scene, making this story a highly visual one. The dialogue speeded things up and kept up a shifting power dynamic that kept me alert and interested. When this conversation stopped, and it was just Arnold controlling her, we knew Connie was in defeat. The narrative also shifted to that of a philosophical one, especially in the last line. It was detached from the drastic situation at hand, as if Connie was losing conscientiousness.

Due to the foreshadowing at the beginning of the story, I was definitely expecting a boy to appear at the end. However, this was subverted uniquely as instead two men showed up and more details started to unfold. A lot of these details appealed to the senses, which helped create the dreamy state as mentioned but also keep us as readers guessing.

All in all, this story really played on, so much that I had a headache. When you hear about ‘horror stories’ you think they can’t be as scary as the movies since you can’t see, but that can actually work to your advantage as a writer since out imgagination is so strong.