Terror in "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Paper Summary:

The paper asserts that Edgar Allan Poe's ability to craft the perfect story of terror is illustrated in "The Tell-Tale Heart". The paper shows how this story is a step into the surreal because it is just real enough to be believable and unreal enough to be considered a horror tale. The paper explains that Poe terrifies us this way, because he knows that nothing is more frightening than fiction peppered with truth.

From the Paper:

"A true story of terror is one that frightens us from the inside out. Tales that contain just enough truth for us to believe that they might be true pull us into the realm of terror because nothing is more frightening than the truth. One story that demonstrates this point is "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. This story is an adventure in terror that begins with madness and ends with murder. Poe's ability to craft the perfect story of terror is illustrated in "The Tell-Tale Heart" because he takes us into the mind of the narrator."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Burduck, Michael. "Fear as a Theme in Poe's Work." Readings on Edgar Allan Poe. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. 1998.
• Parini, Jay. et al. American Writers. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 2003.
• Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Tell-Tale Heart." The Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Minnesota: Amaranth Press: 1984.
• Sullivan, Jack, ed. The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. New York: Viking Penguin, Inc. 1986.
• Thompson, G. R. "Edgar Allan Poe." Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 3. Gale Resource Database. 1979. Site Accessed April 27, 2008. <http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com>

More papers on Terror in "The Tell-Tale Heart":

• Book Review # 128040 : "The Terror of Madness in "The Tell-Tale Heart"
• Book Review # 75725 : "The Tell-tale Heart"
• Analytical Essay # 6098 : "The Tell Tale Heart"

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