Gothic Horror Short Story Guilt Insanity Paranoia
The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe first published in the literary journal The Pioneer in 1843.
A narrator with very sharp senses, who from the first moment makes it clear to us that he is not a normal person, he is obsessed with the sick eye of an old man with whom he lives. This old man has a cloudy, bluish eye similar to a vulture's eye. The relationship between the two and why they live together is unknown. The story does not delve into too much detail of both.
The obsession increases to the point of wanting to kill him, which leads the narrator to plan the crime in detail and finally carry it out. Hide the dismembered corpse in the house, under the wooden floor.
The neighbors hear screams and the police arrive to investigate what has happened. The narrator tries to disguise and hide the crime, but he begins to hear in his head a sound similar to a heart beating under the stage, before which he cannot bear the guilt and gives himself away and declares himself guilty of murder...
This digital edition of The Tell-Tale Heart is based on the transcription first published in The Pioneer in January 1843 by Wikisource.
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The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe is believed to be out of copyright restrictions only in the United States. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not located in the United States, you must check your local laws to make sure that the contents of this eBook are free from copyright restrictions in the country where you are located in before downloading The Tell-Tale Heart in PDF or ePub.
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Fans of psychological horror Readers interested in classic literature Those studying American gothic literature
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Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer and poet, best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre.
We have 19 books by Edgar Allan Poe in Alice and Books library
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.
- Narrator
Almighty God!—no, no! They heard!—they suspected!—they knew!—they were making a mockery of my horror!—this I thought, and this I think.
True, nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am, but why will say that I am mad?! The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute.
And this I did for seven long nights—every night just at midnight—but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.