The Telltale Heart of the Matter. An essay on Edgar Allen Poe's short story, The Telltale Heart.

Edgar Allan Poe's The Telltale Heart is a psychological horror story about a madman that kills the old man who he lived with. There are few scary images, few chilling phrases, and yet it is still a frightening story. The reason that it is scary, even without the conventional methods, is the way it is told. There are elements of the story that make it frightening, even without cliché phrases and bloody …

…beating beneath the floorboards. The longer it goes on, the louder it gets. He thinks that it is an actual audible noise and he thinks the officers can hear it. He soon imagines that the officers know everything, and that they are mocking him, so finally he jumps up and shouts "Villains! dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -tear up the planks! - here, here! - it is the beating of his hideous heart!"