Resumo de The Passenger

This is a horror short story written in the 1st person. The main plot is as follows. A person is sitting alone ? or so he thinks ? on the upper deck of a bus. Outside it is dark, and there is a distinctive chill in the air. He feels something brush past his leg, but sees nothing there. Later on, he sees a figure sitting in front of him. But as the journey progresses, he becomes suspicious of this passenger. The following day, he takes the bus again, only to find the same obscure passenger as he had done the previous night. However, this bus journey turns out to be even more horrifying than the last.

This is clearly a horror story, as it contains all but one of the elements associated with this genre. The person is alone with the mysterious passenger, there are inexplicable events, the story has the quality of a nightmare, there is association with death, and life after death. It is in darkness. The only element missing is unknown noises, but this does not ruin the story in any way whatsoever.

The main characters are the one telling the story, and the mysterious passenger. They do not have a friendly relationship, as the storyteller is quite afraid of the passenger.

This story is set around Piccadilly in London ? ?...I was going home dawn war-darkened Piccadilly on the top of a westering bus.' It takes place mostly on a bus. The story does not say when it was set, but tells us that it took place in October ? ?On a certain Tuesday night during last October...'

The language used in this story is of a high quality. E.F. Benson uses sophisticated words, such as ?ascertained' and ?gregariously'. He also uses complex sentences such as ?What it was I had no idea, but the sense that more was coming, some development which I felt sure would be tragic and terrible, while it filled me with some be-fogged and nightmarish horror, yet inspired me with an invincible curiosity.' But around these complex sentences, he adds some short and simple sentences to build up the suspense, and to give the story more variety. These include, ?And, after ten minutes or so, I saw him.' And ?He was not in the act of sitting down ? he was there.'

My favourite part of the story was the ending, because it was unexpected, yet it gave it an exciting twist.

I think E.F. Benson is a sensational horror author. He keeps the reader in suspense by using wonderfully created sentences that paint clear pictures in the reader's mind, eg. ?...where cheerful fires burnt and steady lights illuminated the solid walls.' The sentences contain such powerful words, that the reader is brought into the story, as if he were there.

Overall, I thought this book was terrifically captivating. It began in action, was well written, was exhilarating throughout, and ended with a twist.

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