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Episode 428 - The Tell-Tale Heart (Patreon)

Published:
2018-11-16 01:37:40
Edited:
2024-12-12 19:03:32
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

This week, you're gonna hear us talk about The Tell-Tale Heart WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!

Special thanks to reader Greig Johnson. Check him out on the YouTubes!

Next up: The Premature Burial (and a bonus content episode on Stan Lee)

Comments

Moonflight Dancer

The discussion of the protagonist compulsively checking on the old man's eye makes me wonder if Poe had OCD. The notion of intrusive thoughts seems to exist not just in this story but in The Black Cat, where protagonists are compelled to be cruel by their own subconscious.

Mandy Reznor (She/It)

Starting the episode, but one thing here. It is most certainly true the majority murders are perpetrated by men, but the METHOD would also imply a male protagonist. From what I understand, lady murderers tend to (though not always) use more passive methods like poisoning. Considering how, uhh, "hands-on" the murder and disposal are (along with the hard statistics regarding how many murderers are men) the protagonist is probably a guy.

Sanjay Mathew

Re the protagonists madness- doesn't the reference to 'the disease' imply syphilis? Good old general paresis of the insane. Maybe that adds another twist to the idea of him as a caregiver- an infection within the old man's household. My apologies if you bring this up later on, I'm just about ten mins in. The narrator being aware of their disease but refusing to accept the implications is interesting

Necropolis Railway

I have deeply creepy love for this story! I first read it as a small boy, and it turned me overnight from a nice sweet child into a fiend obsessed with murder and the macabre. No regrets whatsoever!

Devin Morse

A few years ago I started memorizing this entire story with the goal of reciting it onstage to open a play (an adaptation of Herbert West that never got finished). Also, the story inspired an Insane Clown Posse song called Ol' Evil Eye in which Violent J first sees the old man while trying to sell cookies door-to-door.

Forrest Rush

So this story, more than any Lovecraft tale, best represents Chad and Chris's dynamic, the just waiting to be enraged psychopath and the eyes darting fitfully victim. Well, I wanted to believe it was a Harley Warren/Randolph Carter kind of thing, but if you say so.

Sweatin' to the Great Oldies

I first encountered this story in junior high school. Our English teacher was out for the day and assigned the story for the substitute teacher to helm. We were to have a discussion with the big important question: Is the narrator insane? I took it upon myself to convince the entire class the the narrator was perfectly sane and that it was understandable why they might end up killing somebody. That poor sub didn't know what to do. The next day our regular teacher was back and she emphatically said that OF COURSE the narrator was insane. I didn't argue.

Clara Meath

I just re-read The Thing on the Doorstep, and realized both these stories have a very similar opening structure, with the narrator affirming the accuracy of a previous statement--Poe writing "True!" and Lovecraft writing "It is true" (because why use one word when you can use three) and then each one going on to describe their crime and its motives. Contrasting the stories, it almost feels like Lovecraft goes out of his way to write an uncharacteristically blunt opening, outlining the murder in the first sentence, possibly aware of the similarities of his story to Poe's, and eager to reenforce the actual sanity of his character. I could just be reading too much into Lovecraft's Poe fandom of course, but either way, comparing these two stories was very fun.

Jon Hancock

I thought of this story and its examination of guilt and paranoia a couple of years ago when this was in the news: 'Two self-proclaimed “dumbasses” driving high in Idaho with 20 pounds of marijuana called the police on themselves after they got “spooked” about cops following them' <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/21/idaho-men-driving-high-marijuana-call-police" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/21/idaho-men-driving-high-marijuana-call-police</a>

Steve

The lack of motive is also present in Cosmic Horror where the rationality behind the actions of the Outer Gods is undefined or unknowable. Another augury of HPL.

Lee Russell

Fantastic episode, gents. I've always loved this story for both its simplicity and how open it is for the reader to make up their minds about when, where, who and why. This was the first out-right horror tale we were made to read in school. From grades 8 to 10 I had a fantastic English teacher named Mr. Hanson who actually looked like a chubby version of Poe! The pale complexion, the hair, and the moustache all fit. Had he worn a neckerchief and drank during class, I might have started believing in reincarnation. He was great. He not only ran us through several Poe stories and a touch of M. R. James, but he chose only the most bloody and sexy Shakespeare plays for us to do. He helped solidify my love of horrible, violent stories full of revenge and nudity. They don't seem to make teachers like that anymore.

Allison Albright

96% of all murderers who have been CAUGHT are men. ;) In all seriousness, I also have always thought the narrator in this story was male - in part because the author is male (and I can’t think of any examples of Poe writing stories with female protagonists or from the perspective of a woman). Though it’s also likely that whenever I read about someone doing something violent or overtly aggressive I assume that person is male. Whether it’s an accurate reflection of the real world or not (and it may be), the fact is that in most works of fiction violence = male, so making that assumption isn’t necessarily unreasonable. Though I do always enjoy it when that trope is inverted. I think violence in women is a mostly unexplored (and very interesting) subject in fiction and perhaps in life, because in truth women have the same capacity for awfulness as men, though it may sometimes manifest itself differently. Poe’s such a good writer. He repeatedly has the narrator describe doing something really, really crazy (like chopping up a body) and then manage to use it as an example of why, in fact, he’s perfectly sane. Which strikes me as far more creepy than someone who says "I just dismembered a body - I'm freaking nuts!!" Chris had a really good point about how we are constantly surrounded by people wanting to hurt us for small things like driving too slow in the left lane. I always read this story identifying more with the narrator than the victim, which might indicate that everyone around me imagines strangling me to death pretty often since I’m too wrapped up in my own feelings of irrational violence to notice theirs. I might be completely oblivious to the fact that my husband stays awake at night thinking about killing me over how I drink my coffee. PS - really enjoyed the reading on this one too!

Steve

Terrific reading by Greig!

Tyler

Please do a complete reading of this story with Greig Johnson. I got chills at the end of his reading!

Kenneth R. Gerety

Back in 1997, a double-CD of celebrity Poe readings was released, called "Closed on Account of Rabies," featuring such delights as Christopher Walken reading "The Raven" and Gabriel Byrne reading "The Masque of the Red Death." Just for fun, here's a link to "The Tell-Tale Heart" read by the illustrious Iggy Pop: <a href="https://youtu.be/bansJgYiOXY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/bansJgYiOXY</a>

Dudefromspace

what if it is a woman and the eye is symbolic of an old man looking at the woman and feeling like he is eying her on a sexual way and driving here insane.Because she is disgusted by the old man.

Austin Tero

Chris you should really consider moving to a 1 floor house if you’re so scared every night

skedazzle

Monomania (fixation on a single thing) as a concept was pervasive in the understanding of the insane at the time. Find it interesting that it is perhaps the unseeing (idiot?) eye of Providence that was driving the madness in a sensitive. What could that tell us about Poe? I would add Belle Gunness and Katherine Knight to the list of violent female killers. Warning: Do not look up Knight unless you want your day ruined.

Sellers Burgener

I think the motif Poe is dealing with in this story is the concept of the all-seeing eye, a symbol which would later strike fear into the populace when used by the Pinkertons. It also appears above the pyramid on our national seal. The idea of this symbol instills a lot of paranoia; the idea that God watches everything you do and no infraction goes unwitnessed. I believe our narrator considers himself sensitive enough to perceive it and fixates upon it in the character of the old man. His motivation is to blot out the eye that he feels is watching him all the time. He is constantly looking to see if it is closed. But, as the symbol implies, one can never escape the all seeing eye and destroying its earthly manifestation in the old man is pointless. God still knows what has happened, and the beating of the heart, or the ticking of the deathwatch beetles, sounds the alarm. The narrator ends up confessing to the crime himself. I think what Poe is saying is that the all seeing eye is within us all, whether or not you are possessed of a conscience. Whether God knows or not, YOU know you committed a sin and there is no escaping that knowledge.

Necropolis Railway

Yes, I think the All-Seeing Eye is part of what Poe has in mind. But I think it also has to do with the Evil Eye superstition (it's even directly called "the Evil Eye" in the story). Beliefs about the Evil Eye are found in folk traditions around the world, going back to classical antiquity and before, with descriptions of it and wards against it found in the Bible, the Quran, and Hesiod. In some traditions, it is possible for the Evil Eye to be cast without the eye owner's intention or awareness, almost as if the eye is an independent demonic entity that just happens to be residing in an innocent person's head. This is how the narrator here seems to think of the eye. Apparently, he or she is spurred to believe this by the eye's blindness and diseased appearance, characteristics that have further magical or demonic associations in folk superstition. This aspect complicates the nature of the narrator's madness, because obsessive fixation on a superstition or paranormal belief is hard to separate from delusional psychosis, which can produce magical thinking organically, as it were. These questions may seem anachronistic for a story from the 1840's, but Poe actually demonstrates an advanced and accurate awareness of psychological problems in this and other stories-- especially "The Imp of the Perverse," which can be described as proto-Freudian.

Markus Grönqvist

This story is a big favorite of mine! I have been listening for your free shows for a long time now, but was persuaded by this Poevember to finally sign up. Here's a superb reading of the story by Christopher Lee: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeZrRENgXmY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeZrRENgXmY</a> Your discussions reminded me of a comedy routine about the Swedish word "styckmord", which means a murder including dismemberment. The English language ought to loan it since it happens like once a week in America. We don't need it, it happens once a year over here. Take it, you need it! Finally I want to recommend the short story "Special Circumstances" from the book "Our Skin, Our Blood, Our Bones" by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of "Let the Right One In" and arguably Sweden's greatest horror writer. I'm certain you'd love it, and I'd love to hear you talk about it. In short, it's about a man and his pregnant wife buying an inner-city house at a bargain. The price is greatly reduced because of "special circumstances" and the former owner doesn't want any contact with the new owners. At night, the husband is kept awake by the feeling that something is wrong, similar to what Chris described. If you're up to it, I can send you a translation and some notes.

Michael-Paul Schallmo

When you mentioned the possibility that the narrator could be female, a bell went off in the back of my mind. After a bit of reflection, I recalled that back on Episode 4 covering Polaris, you had Rachel on to read, because the narrator's gender in that story was likewise unclear. Listeners may remember that she ALSO read an excerpt from The Tell-Tale heart about "the eye." I see it now, it's all connected!

James Anthony

The tail end of the episode reminded me of the 90s show The Pretender. Spoiler warning for a 30 year old show, but the main character and his brother are kidnapped as children for their ability to step into the shoes of someone and Intuit what happened in a crime by doing so. The main character identifies with the victim, and his brother with the perpetrator.

NoSignal

The first time I heard this story read it was by a female DJ at my college radio station. She totally killed the it and I was intrigued and gripped the whole time. I am certain a female narrator would work better here and with any other story. Chad’s research certainly points to the opposite which makes a non male narrator more surprising.

NoSignal

And no disrespect to Grieg but after hearing his other very funny works I hear the comedian in his readings here.

Michael Cunliffe

Late to the game on this one, but if we accept the unreliable narration, perhaps the whole story is simply their justification for the act. The protagonist is sneaking into the old man’s room every night to look at him, a growing obsession that ends when the old man sees the protagonist and is murdered. What if the whole ‘i planned the perfect crime’ is merely a cover for the fact that the protagonist was caught creeping and panicked? It would be explain the lack of justification for the premeditation, as well as the fear of making a noise after the old man wakes, followed by their loud shout during the murder. As for how quickly and carefully he able to dismember the body ‘without spilling a drop of blood’, perhaps the cops showed up to a complete bloodbath and the protagonist sat on top of wobbly floorboards with limbs sticking out all over the place and their ‘polite conversation’ is just shock at trying to figure out what on earth has happened.