Straub uses a literary device called framework, stories within a story. The main story is the struggle between the Chowder Society and Eva/Alma, and this story provides the "frame" for the many stories the characters tell. The most obvious use of storytelling is the Chowder Society itself, which meets for the purpose of telling stories. Also, Don Wanderley is a writer and English instructor, professions which allow him to tell a number of stories (for example, the plot of his novel which is based on his relationship with "Alma Mobley") as well as mention numerous literary works; in particular, his references to the works of writers such as Hawthorne and Henry James remind the reader of the literary tradition in which Straub is working.

Another of Straub's techniques, as King points out in Danse Macabre, is mirroring. Straub even uses an actual mirror in a scene near...