The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

One of E. A. Poe’s more horror-oriented stories, “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” presents the author’s obsession with death, scientific experiments, and resurrection. Playing around with forbidden and unscientific methods, Poe vehemently tries to exhibit his own medical knowledge to the reading public, asking for some sort of pardon for the horrific and disgusting end of his experiment. The depiction of gore and “detestable putrescence” paves the way for another master of American horror, H. P. Lovecraft, whose dream journeys and loathsome descriptions owe a great debt to Poe’s story.