Comparing The Horror In The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe

Modern classics such as the novels written by Stephen King are masterful examples of suspenseful horror that have been read by millions worldwide. However, many people don’t know about one of the foremost authors of early horror, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe helped to solidify the horror genre, using distinct stylistic ideas in all of his short stories, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, and “The Cask Of Amontillado”. Poe utilizes many similar tools and formats for his gothic stories, creating a distinct format that he consistently adheres to. Poe in part codifies the horror genre through his use of suspense, while also managing to slip in ironic scenarios throughout his short stories. Poe’s use of horror in his stories is consistently graphic, but more so disturbingly calm and sadistic in nature. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, after suffocating his master, the narrator calmly and methodically divides up the corpse in order to more easily hide it. He describes this in vivid detail, “The night waned, and I worked hastily, but

He describes the sounds he hears as he walls Fortunato into the small enclosed space, “There was then a long and obstinate silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibration of the chain. The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones” (Poe, “The Cask Of Amontillado” 9). The lack of vision in this scene instills a great deal of suspense in the story. Limited only to the sounds emitting from the chamber, the narrator knows not what is happening within. Throughout the process of laying the bricks for the wall, the reader doesn’t know if Fortunato is about to escape at any point. This suspense parallels other cases within Poe’s other