INFO.FIKSI.NET — A good mystery is like a magic trick—it keeps the audience looking left while the real action happens on the right. This is the power of the red herring, a literary device designed to mislead readers and viewers, sending them down false trails before revealing the truth.
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What Is a Red Herring?
The term originates from an old hunting trick, where smoked herrings (which are red and pungent) were dragged across a trail to distract dogs from their quarry. In storytelling, red herrings serve the same purpose—they divert attention from the real clues, creating suspense and surprise.
Unlike plot holes or bad writing, red herrings are intentional misdirections. They make the audience suspect the wrong character, fear the wrong outcome, or misinterpret crucial details—all so the eventual reveal feels both shocking and inevitable.
Why Red Herrings Work
Great mysteries thrive on the tension between what the audience thinks they know and what’s really happening. Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd famously uses a red herring narrator to hide the killer’s identity. Knives Out makes every guest in the mansion seem suspicious, even though the real culprit is hiding in plain sight.
The key to a good red herring is fairness: the audience should have all the pieces, but the story cleverly nudges them to assemble those pieces incorrectly. When the truth is revealed, it should feel surprising—but not cheating.
Types of Red Herrings
1. The False Suspect
The most common type: a character who seems guilty but isn’t. In Sherlock Holmes stories, witnesses often lie or withhold information, leading Holmes (and the reader) down dead ends.
2. The Misleading Clue
An object or detail that appears significant but isn’t. In Gone Girl, Amy’s diary initially seems like proof of her husband’s guilt—until we learn she fabricated it.
3. The Fake-Out Threat
A danger that never materializes. Horror films love this: a cat jumps out, making the audience scream, while the real monster lurks elsewhere.
4. The Premature Conclusion
A moment where the story seems to resolve, only to twist again. Psycho famously kills off its apparent protagonist halfway through, leaving the audience disoriented.
How to Use Red Herrings Effectively
1. Play Fair
The best red herrings don’t lie—they emphasize real but irrelevant details. In The Usual Suspects, Verbal Kint’s stories are full of truths, just not the ones the audience assumes.
2. Misdirect with Emotion
Make the audience want to believe the red herring. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban makes Sirius Black seem like a villain because Harry (and readers) are primed to fear him.
3. Resolve the Misdirection
A red herring should have a payoff, even if it’s just the audience realizing they were fooled. Columbo episodes often reveal the killer upfront—the fun is watching how the detective untangles the lies.
When Red Herrings Backfire
A bad red herring either:
- Feels like a cheat (e.g., introducing a new suspect in the last chapter with no setup).
- Wastes the audience’s time (a subplot that goes nowhere).
- Undermines the real twist (if the truth is less interesting than the red herring).
For example, How I Met Your Mother’s later seasons spent years hinting at the mother’s identity—only to undermine it with a rushed, unsatisfying ending.
Red Herrings vs. Foreshadowing
While both involve planting clues, their goals differ:
- Foreshadowing hints at what will happen.
- Red herrings hint at what won’t happen.
The best stories use both. The Sixth Sense foreshadows its twist (the color red, Bruce Willis’s lack of interaction) while also red herring the audience into focusing on the boy’s therapy.
Mastering the Technique
To craft a compelling red herring:
- Know your ending first—you can’t mislead if you don’t know the truth.
- Make the distraction plausible—if the fake clue feels forced, the audience won’t buy it.
Let the audience feel clever—briefly—good mysteries allow readers to piece together theories before pulling the rug out.
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