“True! -- nervous -- very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had...”
Edgar Allan Poe2,100 wordsIntermediate
The Tell-Tale Heart
An unnamed narrator insists upon their sanity while describing the methodical killing of an old man. Driven mad by the old man's "vulture eye," the narrator commits the act with precision, dismembers the body, and hides it beneath the floorboards. When police arrive, the narrator's guilt manifests as an unbearable phantom heartbeat, leading to a confession.
Gothic HorrorPsychological FictionUnreliable NarratorGothic Atmosphere
