Exploring Suspense in Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'

Any author that is adept at writing in the genre of horror knows that the most proficient way to keep a reader intrigued when reading a story is to use suspense. Likewise, any avid reader will hold an author in the highest regard when suspense is used effectively. The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story about a man who insists that he is not mad. He feels the need to kill an old man because of his disturbing eye. After several tries, he finally commits the crime successfully. The police show up at his door and at first he remains calm, but eventually he grows restless. The narrator believes that he is hearing the beating of the old man’s heart, his guilt finally gets the best of him and he confesses to the police. In this story, Edgar Allan

He had a knack for placing eerily descriptive words in certain spots that could raise the hair on the back of your neck. The way Poe originally described the old man’s eye is pretty chilling: “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold.”. The words are simple, but descriptive enough to be effective. Using something simple like the vulture as a comparison helps to create that predatory vision of merciless evil reflected in the old man’s eye. Poe’s writing brought about a darker, tenser atmosphere that would be hard to achieve if his words weren’t selected carefully. With sentences such as, “Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror.” and “All in vain; because Death in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.” the story gives off a rather apprehensive vibe. Poe was very skilled when it came to placing specific words in scenes that were paced just right to create

He is most definitely a madman, although his constant insistence that he’s not is alarming because he doesn’t think there’s actually something wrong with him. He plays his craziness off as “over-acuteness of the senses” and makes his actions seem completely plausible. The best and worst part about the narrator is that he’s so untrustworthy that you’ll never know what he’ll do next. His every move is frightening and yet, he makes it all seem okay by remaining cool, calm and collected. The narrator appears to be in control of what he’s doing but near the end of the story we catch a glimpse of how crazy he can really become. Frantic thoughts are formed inside the narrator’s mind and he begins to panic after hearing what he believes is the beating heart of the dead old man. His words and breathing are rushed and he reaches the brink of insanity before breaking down and admitting to committing the murder. The character has an aura of spontaneity that makes his journey all the more