The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe

5 stars

This Little Black Classic, comprising The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of The House of Usher and The Cask of Amontillado, is more than worth the 80p it took to own it. Having previously read and enjoyed The Raven, I knew I’d probably enjoy this but was pleasantly surprised at just how insanely good it actually was.

The pictures that I’ve seen of Poe all make him look like an interesting, if very spooky, dude:

This impression would be borne out by this book’s contents - all three tales are imbued with the mad and macabre – two told from the perspectives of murderers and the other dealing with grief – and while all seemed like simple, short stories, they still managed to be incredibly intense and packed with fantastic imagery, with their economy definitely adding to their effectiveness.

This one gets a slightly anxious and definitely spooked standing ovation.