The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe is a psychological horror story that follows a narrator obsessed with an old man’s “vulture-eye.” Convinced that the eye is evil, the narrator carefully plans the murder, insisting throughout the story that he is sane. Edgar Allan Poe builds intense suspense as the narrator describes every detail of the nightly stalking and the final act of killing the old man to rid himself of the eye forever.

After hiding the body beneath the floorboards, the narrator believes he has committed the perfect crime. But when the police arrive and question him, he begins to hear the relentless beating of the dead man’s heart. Edgar Allan Poe uses this growing terror to show the narrator’s guilt and descent into madness. The pounding heart becomes unbearable until he confesses, proving that he can’t escape his own conscience¹.