Suspense and Horror

Joyce Carol Oates crafts a sense of horror by using her characters in a way that creates expectations. Connie is portrayed as a character who harbors a form of resentment for her parents, in particular her mother. As a teenager this manifests in her living a lifestyle of sneaking off to hang out alone with teenage boys in situations that her mother wouldn't approve of. Connie even comments on them by identifying other girls to her mother that have questionable actions and frowning upon them. This leads the reader to have the expectation that she will continue to act out and when left home alone there is an expectation because of the type of teen she is. The reader expects her to invite someone over, but what happens when someone comes over uninvited? This someone is then given particular information about Connie that he should not have access to and invites her to take a ride in his car? As alarms go off the reader is dragged along by the questions that arise of who is this man, how does he know these things, and what's going to happen to Connie if she goes for a ride?