Book Review - The Tell-Tale Heart

Julian Symons’ ‘Life and works of Edgar Allan Poe’ was published in 1978; he wrote it because he was dissatisfied with existing biographies of Poe. He chose to break the book into two sections – Part One: The Life and Part Two: The Work. Poe produced ‘the most original prose fiction of the nineteenth century’ (p241).

Poe used his imagination a lot – even to the point of fabricating his origins, and stating that he was born in 1811 when in fact the date was 1809. He was born in Boston, his father abandoning the family in 1810; his mother died the following year and he was fostered by Frances and John Allan, a childless couple; they never adopted him. John Allan and Edgar were often at loggerheads, and in later years Edgar’s gambling debts and drinking became cause for heated arguments and eventual estrangement.

Edgar failed to apply himself to the rigours of the Army, eventually leaving West Point before he was thrown out. He was determined to earn his living as a writer – a precarious career that left him impecunious through most of his life. He married his first cousin Virginia Clemm in 1835 – he was 27, she was 13 though the documentation stated she was 21. Virginia’s mother, Maria Clemm (née Poe), lived with the couple. Their relationship has been debated over the years: was it ever sexual, or were they living virtually as brother and sister? It’s all supposition. Certainly, he adored her and she idolised him. He thought she was beautiful. ‘Beautiful women have little chance of survival in Poe. They are often seen both as the victims of men and as a cause of destruction.’ (p205)

Sadly, Virginia developed consumption and became so weak that Edgar would carry her to the dining table; she died after five years of illness in 1847, aged 24. Her death was a devastating blow to Edgar. Over the years he had indulged to excess in alcohol but recovered, even abstaining for lengthy periods, but now his depression led him to the bottle with a vengeance.

‘Poe is spelling out his personal agonies in fictional terms. The obsessions, which were accentuated but not caused by Virginia’s illness and death, were concerned with the supreme beauty of death, the association of pleasure and cruelty, the fascination of blood. He offers us in some respects the world of de Sade, but it is a sadism made acceptable to a mass readership by the elimination of any ostensible sexual element.’ (p210)

In 1849, Poe went missing for five days and was found walking delirious in Baltimore, wearing clothes other than his own; he died in hospital a few days later. Since then all hospital records, including his death certificate, have been lost.

Writing articles and criticism, the journalist Poe had to move about the country to obtain work. He was also an editor at times. He barely managed to keep the wolf from the door. For example, his story ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ was printed in The Pioneer magazine and he was paid the princely sum of $10 for it. Maria helped the family finances when she could, sometimes by teaching. He was naturally pleased to win $100 for his story ‘The Gold-Bug’, offered by the Dollar Newspaper (1843).

He sold a hoax story to the Sun newspaper; it concerned a balloon crossing of the Atlantic, and its publication caused a great deal of interest and excitement; not until Orson Welles transmitted the radio play ‘War of the Worlds’ would a hoax story have such a widespread effect.

What made his hoax stories believable was the acute observational detail he brought to his work. His The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym is his longest prose fiction and W.H. Auden believed it to be ‘one of the finest adventure stories ever written’.

‘I have… rambled and dreamed away whole months, and awake at last to a sort of mania composition. Then I scribble all day, and read all night, so long as the disease endures.’ (p93)

Symons believes Poe was the first great American literary critic, because Poe found a balance between romantic perceptiveness and idealism with a vein of severe common sense. However, Poe the critic accused other poets and writers of plagiarism, but indulged in it himself. He castigated certain authors in his critical essays, which were deemed ‘intelligent and prejudiced’, and thereby made a number of enemies in the literary fraternity. Sometimes his vitriolic criticism was anonymous, though many guessed at the author. Yet several of his targets seemed to forgive him, acknowledging his genius. One writer he upset was editor and compiler, Rufus Wilmot Griswold, yet Poe appointed this man as his executor. Griswold then proceeded to destroy Poe’s reputation and by his death in 1857 he seemed to have achieved his aim. W.H Auden has said, ‘That one man should dislike another and speak maliciously of him after his death would be natural enough, but to take so much trouble, to blacken a reputation so subtly, presupposes a sustained hatred which is always fascinating, because the capacity for sustained emotion of any kind is rare.’ (p161) Certainly, this distasteful trait is still prevalent in academia, and even in online reviews – ‘sock puppets spring to mind’.  Symons goes on to apprise us of a number of critical views, one of them concluding: ‘the lowest abyss of moral imbecility and disrepute had not been reached until Poe was born.’  Despite all these nay-sayers, interest in Poe’s work never flagged. And of course he lives in his work while his jaundiced detractors are forgotten and are but dust.

Not without reason, Poe is considered the father of detective fiction with his character Dupin. Yes, before his crime stories detectives did feature in stories, but they did not do any detecting, or use logic, for example the first instance of the marks made by a rifle barrel being used as a clue in solving a crime. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said, ‘Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?’

‘Poe’s complaint that the author may give the reader false information through the mouth of a character, but must not do so in his own person [that is the narrative], was a forerunner of the detective story reader’s insistence on “fair play”.’(p185, addition in my italics)

His influence on the detective story has been long recognised: ‘On this narrow path the writer must walk, and he sees the footmarks of Poe always in front of him,’ said Conan Doyle. ‘He is happy if he ever finds the means of breaking away and striking out on some little side-track of his own.’

Symons observes that ‘more than half of Poe’s seventy stories are very little read, except by literary critics and honours students. His reputation as a short story writer rests upon some twenty tales which are famous throughout the world. Apart from the four tales of detection, they are all horrific.’ (210) He concludes concerning the horror stories, ‘There is nothing else like them in Western literature.’

Dark echoes

Reading my western Coffin for Cash, you might think there is the odd echo or two from some of Edgar Allan Poe’s work. And you’d be right.

The Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles westerns were created by Edward A. Grainger, who has generously allowed other writers to embellish his characters’ lives in separate self-contained novels. They are noir westerns, so I believed it would be fitting to absorb some aspects of Poe for Coffin for Cash, the twelfth book in the series.

To begin with, I wanted to start the story with a life-threatening event for Cash Laramie. Finding himself buried alive seemed to fit the bill. The Prologue then, inevitably, has the title Premature Burial. Poe’s short story ‘The Premature Burial’ was published in 1844.

Poe’s 1835 story ‘Berenice’ is one of the few tales where the narrator is named; director Eric Rohmer made a short film of Poe’s story in 1954. Berenice is the narrator’s cousin and she is buried alive. Chapter 1 of Coffin is titled Berenice: Berenice Rohmer, an heiress who seeks the help of Cash in locating her missing brother, Horace.

“Hello, Marshal Laramie,” Berenice Rohmer said as he approached. She looked at him, her golden brown eyes shining brightly, appraising. Boldly, he returned her scrutiny. She was probably in her mid-twenties, buxom, curves pressing alluringly against the green velvet jacket; a matching hat sat askew atop her long red hair that was done up and tamed by jewelled pins. Beneath the skirt, her legs were crossed; she wore black lace-up boots with a high heel. Thin pale red lips parted slightly and then finally formed into a smile.(p4)

Gideon Miles is Cash’s closest friend. He’s at Fort Bridger to escort an accused murderer for trial, Vincent Raven, a black settler. Raven has been accused of murdering the postmaster, Mr Edgar Clemm. A local lawyer, Rufus Wilmot, saw Raven standing over the body.

Poe married his first cousin Virginia Clemm in 1835 – he was 27, she was 13 though the documentation stated she was 21. Virginia’s mother, Maria Clemm (née Poe), lived with the couple. Their relationship has been debated over the years: was it ever sexual, or were they living virtually as brother and sister? Nobody knows. I melded Poe with Clemm; it seemed apt. As for Wilmot, I decided to use Rufus Wilmot Griswold’s first two names; anthologist and editor Griswold was castigated by Poe the critic and yet perplexingly Poe chose him as his executor. After Poe’s death Griswold attempted with some success to destroy Poe’s reputation, yet hindsight confirms that Poe is remembered through his work while Griswold is not.

By now, you can see that several influences or names permeated the writing of Coffin. Chapter 2 is titled Raven. Poe’s poem ‘The Raven’ was published in 1845.

“Well, sadly for Raven, he was found in the town’s post office standing over the slain postmaster, Mr Edgar Clemm. Packets of opium were strewn about. He denies it, naturally, but the postmaster was still warm, according to a lawyer, Rufus Wilmot, who entered moments later. Sheriff Arnold Royster brought Raven here for protective custody, before he could be lynched. There’s bad feeling about him in the town, as well; Mr Clemm was a greatly liked citizen of Green River.”(p11)

The sheriff is named after Sarah Elmira Royster who was Poe’s sweetheart, but they became estranged, until years later she was engaged to Poe shortly before his death; she may have influenced his work.

Cash’s trail leads to The Bells, a strange hotel run by a brother and sister team, Roderick and Madeline Allan, who keep a black cat. ‘The Bells’ was one of Poe’s last poems, published in 1849 after his death; ‘The Black Cat’ short story was published in 1843. Coffin echoes the theme found in this story. The name Roderick is high-jacked from ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ (1839); Roderick Usher has a twin sister, Madeline.

In Chapter 6 titled Amontillado, we find that there is a Monsieur Valdemar staying at the hotel; he supplies the establishment with wine. Poe’s stories ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ (1846) and ‘The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar’ (1845) lent themselves to the plot and characters.

The chapter headings Pendulum and Pit and Tell-Tale Heart owe their existence to Poe, too. There are several other allusions to Poe’s life and work; none dominate the story, which is essentially a gothic western.

Coffin for Cash

THE PALE BLUE EYE AND EDGAR ALLAN POE

The Pale Blue Eye

This 2022 Netflix film is worth watching for the strong performances of Christian Bale, Toby Jones, Timothy Spall and especially Harry Melling as Poe himself. It’s based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard. (The 17-year gap between publication and film release must give hope to many an author!)

It’s 1830 and (alcoholic – aren’t they all?) retired detective Augustus Landor (Bale) is asked by the military to investigate the hanging of Cadet Leroy Fry at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Landor is a widower who lives alone since his daughter Mathilde left him a few years earlier.

After Fry was hanged, his heart was removed from his body. In the morgue, examining the corpse, Landor finds a small fragment of a note clutched tightly in Fry's hand. Also, marks on Fry's neck and fingers suggest that he did not hang himself, but was murdered.

With the permission of Superintendent Thayer (Spall), Landor enlists the help of Edgar Allan Poe (Melling), another cadet at the academy who has expressed an interest in the case. Poe and Landor deduce from the writing on the note fragment that it was summoning Fry to a secret meeting. Then another cadet, Ballinger, goes missing and is later found hanged; he is also mutilated and organs removed. A third cadet, Stoddard, who was a colleague of the two victims, then disappears, and it is presumed by Landor that this man had reason to believe he was next in line to be killed....

Landor and Poe begin to suspect the family of Dr Daniel Marquis (Toby Jones), who was first brought into the investigation to perform the autopsy on Fry. Particular suspicion is placed on his son Artemus (Harry Lawtey) and his daughter Lea (Lucy Boynton)…

Melling tends to steal every scene he’s in, no mean accomplishment against Bale. His look, voice and mannerism are mesmerising. Certainly, the film prompts the viewer to seek out Bayard’s book.

Poe’s influence on other writers is considerable, notably Conan Doyle, Verne and Lovecraft. I too am not immune. I wrote a noir western as a homage to Poe, Coffin for Cash (2016), which contains several allusions to his life and work. These can be viewed in this blog:

October 2017 Dark Echoes

http://nik-writealot.blogspot.com/2017/10/dark-echoes.html

 

February 2016 – Book review of The Tell-Tale Heart

http://nik-writealot.blogspot.com/2016/02/book-review-tell-tale-heart.html

 

July 2020 – Disinterring Coffin for Cash - 1

http://nik-writealot.blogspot.com/2020/07/disinterring-coffin-for-cash-1.html

 

July 2020 - Disinterring Coffin for Cash - 2

http://nik-writealot.blogspot.com/2020/07/disinterring-coffin-for-cash-2.html

Disinterring Coffin for Cash - 1

This is the first article offering some illumination on several background inspirations for the noir western Coffin for Cash (published 2015 by Beat to a Pulp).

When asked to write my second Cash Laramie novel, I decided to try something different by paying homage to Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).

I’d recently read an interesting biography of the author by Julian Symons, entitled The Tell-Tale Heart (my blog Review – The Tell-Tale Heart, February 6, 2016) so embarked on a fascinating plotting and writing journey involving many Poe references (related in my blog Dark Echoes, October 9, 2017).

Besides the references already itemized in the blogs mentioned, there were other links:

The bank manager, who appears to be schizophrenic, is called William Wilson. Poe’s 1839 short story ‘William Wilson’ concerns a doppelganger, a ‘double’;

Mr Usher Corman is a gun-for-hire. Of course his first name is taken from Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. And Corman is a nod to the legendary film director Roger Corman who produced and directed several Poe inspired movies, among them House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tomb of Ligeia and The Premature Burial.

Indeed, almost every chapter heading relates to a person in Poe’s life or a character or place in his writing: viz. Premature burial, Berenice, Raven, Wilmot, The Bells, Amontillado, the oval portrait, pendulum and pit, and tell-tale heart.

The back cover superbly echoes the theme with a raven on the branch of a dead tree.

Coffin for Cash

Cash Laramie has been in plenty of tight spots, but this – being buried alive – may be his last! 

It all started innocently enough, as a favor for his boss, accompanying a rich woman in her search for her brother. The trail leads to The Bells, a strange hotel run by a brother and sister team, which just happens to be adjacent to the funeral parlor and cemetery...

His friend Miles is nearby, intent on escorting a suspected murderer to Cheyenne for trial. Yet Miles discovers that his charge might be not guilty, after all, and lingers to ask questions. And those inquiries mean upsetting some people, which leads to an ambush, and a final reckoning at the outlandish casino complex constructed by a wealthy bigoted German baron.

Throw into the mix the attractive Berenice, a schizophrenic bank manager, irate miners, Chinese workers, a boisterous slot machine salesman, and a devious lawyer and you have another explosive adventure for the Outlaw Marshal.

FFB – Alias Thomas A. Katt

A few years ago, when I was commissioning manuscripts for a publisher, I encountered this little fantasy gem, Alias Thomas A. Katt by Bob Stewart (2011, 2014).

Of the 190+ books I accepted during my tenure, I enthused over all or I wouldn’t have accepted them, yet of all those there were a good many that seemed just that little bit extra-special. It would be invidious to list all of them, but from time to time they may crop up in this regular feature. That’s one of the most satisfying aspects of being a commissioning editor – whether for a magazine or a book publisher – opening a submission that captures you from the first page.

Thomas is a detective noir with a twist. Cat lovers will love it, as will fans of crime fiction.

This book reached the end of its initial contract and has switched publisher. It’s an e-book and paperback, now with a new beguiling cover.

 

 

Alias Thomas A. Katt - the blurb:

When Mallory opens the cage at the animal rescue center I trot out, right into her heart. She names me Thomas, a natural enough moniker for a male cat. It is a pampered life until I enter the surreal world of “feline noir” which twists my fondest dream into my worst nightmare after switching bodies with my mistress’ boyfriend, Tom A. Katt.

My fondest dream? To have human interaction with Mallory, not limited to purring and mewing.

My worst nightmare? Mallory is now on the hit list of a killer…

The dilemma: To save her by learning to successfully masquerade as a human. My knowledge of the human world is limited to television, movies, and the books Mallory reads to me on rainy New Orleans afternoons. And, how do you use those pesky opposable digits, anyway?

The horns of the dilemma: There’s always a chance we’ll switch back, leaving Mallory in deadly peril.

Normally, I’d write a review for this feature. But I’d be biased, obviously. So here are some endorsements:

Faux saints, cats who inhabit human bodies and find they can’t dog paddle when in their human state, ace cops who are also mob enforcers… all are elements in Bob Stewart’s comic novel, Alias Thomas A. Katt, that I thought might make it difficult to suspend my disbelief, but those were minor obstacles to that goal. What really posed a problem for me is I’m a cat-hater, but, from the first page I was captivated. Any fears of not being able to suspend that famous disbelief went right out the window with the contents of the litter box. This is a book chock-full of rollicking escapades, impossible situations, and improbable characters in a plot that could have been designed by Timothy Leary while “researching” illegal substances (sound track by Dylan). It’s a really cool book! What we in the writing trade are speaking of when we throw around the words “original” and “imaginative.” I give it my highest rating: Four Fur Balls.

-  Les Edgerton, author of Hooked, Finding Your Voice, Monday’s Meal, The Death of Tarpons and The Rape.

Bob Stewart has created his own niche--feline noir--in this kitty caper. When Tom Katt, a police officer and romantic interest of the lovely Mallory, switches bodies with Mallory's real cat, Thomas, the tables are turned on the bad guys. Even though he's forced to work within the boundaries of an inferior human body, Thomas still has his feline smarts. Bad kitty! takes on new meaning in this fun romp that all cat lovers will find purr-fect.

- Carolyn Haines is the author of BONES OF A FEATHER, the 11th in the Sarah Booth Delaney Delta Mystery series. www.carolynhaines.com

"It's a given that cats and crime fiction have been cozy companions since the days of Edgar Allan Poe. Now, however, Bob Stewart adds a delightful new twist, taking the reader on a charming, fast-paced, and quite inventive ride..."

-- Carlton Stowers, two-time Edgar winner

Bob Stewart is the author of four published non-fiction books, and has reported news events for popular magazines (People, Time, Life, and Latina). He has authored two plays presented by the Aggie Players at Texas A&M University, and two scripts for series television while pursuing a career in journalism. He served as associate producer for Switched at Birth, a television mini-series based on the Kimberly Mays baby switch in Florida. It was nominated for an Emmy. He has been managing editor of The Bryan Daily Eagle, The Laredo Times, and the Marshall News-Messenger. For ten years, he wrote a daily television column for the San Antonio Light. Next, he pursued a career as a freelance reporter/writer/author. In 1998, he joined the staff of People Magazine as a correspondent, working out of his San Antonio home.

 

 

His non-fiction books are:
No Remorse (Pinnacle True Crime and a True Crime Book of the Month club selection) is the true story of Texas serial killer Kenneth McDuff who was convicted of murder, then paroled, when the Supreme Court struck down the death penalty, only to go on a killing spree. McDuff was executed in October, 1998.

Revenge Redeemed (Revell ) is the true story of a Kentucky couple whose only child was killed by a drunk driver in 1972. They rehabilitated the man who killed their son and today he lives next door to them.

Sacrifice: The Drug Cult Murder of Mark Kilroy (Word Inc.) with co-author Jim Kilroy is the bizarre true story about Mexican drug smugglers who murdered Jim’s son, a University of Texas pre-med student as a human sacrifice while the youth was in Mexico on spring break.

 
Man to Man: When the Woman You Love Has Breast Cancer (St. Martin’s Press and a Literary Guild Alternate Selection) with co-author Andy Murcia, the husband of entertainer Ann Jillian.

Bob has worked on a number of national stories for People, including the Oklahoma City bombing, the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, the murder of Tejano singer Selena, the TWA jet crash in New York, the murder of students at schools in Pearl, Miss., Jonesboro, Ark., and Columbine in Denver, Colo., the racially-motivated murder of James Byrd in Jasper, Tx., the execution of Karla Faye Tucker, and the kidnap/murder of Mark Kilroy in Matamoras, Mexico.

Believe in ghosts

In recent years interest in paranormal fiction has burgeoned, though of course the genre is by no means new.

Many young readers who have discovered vampires through Twilight and its successors probably never heard of Bram Stoker’s Dracula when they first gained an interest in the saga of Bella Swan.

Ghost stories are one sub-genre of the paranormal and these have a long and respectable tradition, penned by a good number of great authors, among them Charles Dickens, M.R. James, Henry James, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, Fritz Leiber, Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Susan Hill.

Medieval ghost - wikipedia commons

There are two types of ghost stories. In the first, it is obvious from the outset that the story relates to ghosts – usually to be found in an anthology. There, the author is striving for effect, the crawl of chilled fingers up the spine, the anticipation of incipient doom, the tragedy of history repeating itself, etc. The second type is not defined as ghost story, and may be a romance, a mystery, or a suspense tale and its ending is often the twist that reveals the ghost aspect; naturally, these stories cannot be contained in a ghost anthology, or the plot ultimate device is destroyed.

In my time I’ve written both kinds, and enjoyed writing them.

Interestingly, a 2014 YouGov poll reveals the findings concerning British people and their belief in things that go bump in the night.

Apparently, only 23% of British people say they are religious. I think that despite the low percentage who consider them religious, a higher percentage actually believes in God (in one form or another).

According to the poll, 1 in 3 holds the belief that ghosts exist; that is 34%. And of that number, 9% state they have communicated with a ghost.

39% believe a house can be haunted.

28% have felt the presence of a supernatural being.

The poll states that women are 10% more likely than men to believe in ghosts.

And, finally, 17% are likely to believe in life after death.

Touch wood, like all poll results, these figures may need to be taken with a pinch of salt (thrown over the shoulder if spilled), since we all know that statistics can prove anything.