"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writer

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy pale blue "vulture-eye", as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering the body in the bathtub and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator's actions result in hearing a thumping sound, which the narrator interprets as the dead man's beating heart. The story was first published in

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that r ...

's ''The Pioneer'' in January 1843. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is often considered a classic of the

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

genre and is one of Poe's best known short stories. The specific motivation for murder (aside from the narrator's hatred of the old man's eye), the relationship between narrator and old man, the gender of the narrator, and other details are left unclear. The narrator denies having any feelings of hatred or resentment for the man who had, as stated, "never wronged" the narrator. The narrator also denies having killed for greed. Critics have speculated that the old man could be a father figure, the narrator's landlord, or that the narrator works for the old man as a servant, and that perhaps his "vulture-eye" represents a veiled secret or power. The ambiguity and lack of details about the two main characters stand in contrast to the specific plot details leading up to the murder.

Plot summary

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a

first-person narrative A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-telle ...

told by an unnamed narrator. Despite insisting that they are sane, the narrator suffers from a disease (nervousness) which causes " over-acuteness of the senses". The old man, with whom the narrator lives, has a clouded, pale, blue "

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

-like" eye, which distresses and manipulates the narrator so much that they plot to murder the old man, despite also insisting that the narrator loves the old man and has never felt wronged by him. The narrator is insistent that this careful precision in committing the murder proves that they cannot possibly be insane. For seven nights, the narrator opens the door of the old man's room to shine a sliver of light onto the "evil eye." However, the old man's vulture-eye is always closed, making it impossible to "do the work," thus making the narrator go further into distress. On the eighth night, the old man awakens after the narrator's hand slips and makes a noise, interrupting the narrator's nightly ritual. The narrator does not draw back and after some time, decides to open the lantern. A single thin ray of light shines out and lands precisely on the "evil eye," revealing that it is wide open. The narrator hears the old man's heart beating, which only gets louder and louder. This increases the narrator's anxiety to the point where they decide to strike. They jump into the room and the old man shrieks once before he is killed. The narrator then dismembers the body and conceals the pieces under the floorboards, ensuring the concealment of all signs of the crime. Even so, the old man's scream during the night causes a neighbor to report to the police, who the narrator invites in to look around. The narrator claims that the scream heard was their own in a nightmare and that the old man is absent in the country. Confident that they will not find any evidence of the murder, the narrator brings chairs for them and they sit in the old man's room. The chairs are placed on the very spot where the body is concealed; the police suspect nothing, and the narrator has a pleasant and easy manner. The narrator begins to feel uncomfortable and notices a ringing in their ears. As the ringing grows louder, the narrator concludes that it is the heartbeat of the old man coming from under the floorboards. The sound increases steadily to the narrator, though the officers do not seem to hear it. Terrified by the violent beating of the heart and convinced that the officers are aware of not only the heartbeat but also the narrator's guilt, the narrator breaks down and confesses. The narrator tells them to tear up the floorboards to reveal the remains of the old man's body.

Publication history

"The Tell-Tale Heart" was first published in January 1843 in the inaugural issue of ''The Pioneer: A Literary and Critical Magazine'', a short-lived

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

magazine edited by

and Robert Carter who were listed as the "proprietors" on the front cover. The magazine was published in Boston by Leland and Whiting and in Philadelphia by Drew and Scammell. Poe was likely paid $10 for the story.Silverman, Kenneth. ''Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance''. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. , p. 201. Its original publication included an epigraph that quoted

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...

's poem "

A Psalm of Life "A Psalm of Life" is a poem written by American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, often subtitled "What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist".Gale, 202 Longfellow wrote the poem not long after the death of his first wife and while th ...

."Moss, Sidney P. ''Poe's Literary Battles: The Critic in the Context of His Literary Milieu''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1969. p. 151 The story was slightly revised when republished on August 23, 1845, edition of the ''

Broadway Journal The ''Broadway Journal'' was a short-lived New York City-based newspaper founded by Charles Frederick Briggs and John Bisco in 1844 and was published from January 1845 to January 1846. In its first year, the publication was bought by Edgar Allan P ...

''. That edition omitted Longfellow's poem because Poe believed it was plagiarized. "The Tell-Tale Heart" was reprinted several more times during Poe's lifetime.

Analysis

"The Tell-Tale Heart" uses an

unreliable narrator An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in fiction and film, and range from children to mature characters. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in ''The Rhetoric of Fiction''. While unr ...

. The exactness with which the narrator recounts murdering the old man, as if the stealthy way in which they executed the crime were evidence of their sanity, reveals their monomania and

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy c ...

. The focus of the story is the perverse scheme to commit the

perfect crime Perfect crimes are crimes that are undetected, unattributed to an identifiable perpetrator, or otherwise unsolved or unsolvable as a kind of technical achievement on the part of the perpetrator. The term is used colloquially in law and fiction (e ...

. One author, Paige Bynum, asserts that Poe wrote the narrator in a way that "allows the reader to identify with the narrator". The narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" is generally assumed to be a male. However, some critics have suggested a woman may be narrating; no pronouns are used to clarify one way or the other.Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York City: Checkmark Books, 2001: 234. The story starts ''

in medias res A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the midst of the plot (cf. ''ab ovo'', ''ab initio''). Often, exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually, through dialogue, flashbacks or description of pa ...

'', opening with a conversation already in progress between the narrator and another person who is not identified in any way. It has been speculated that the narrator is confessing to a prison warden, a judge, a reporter, a doctor, or (

anachronistically An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

) a psychiatrist. Benfey, Christopher. "Poe and the Unreadable: 'The Black Cat' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart'", in ''New Essays on Poe's Major Tales'', Kenneth Silverman, ed. Cambridge University Press, 1993. , p. 30. In any case, the narrator tells the story in great detail.Cleman, John. "Irresistible Impulses: Edgar Allan Poe and the Insanity Defense", in ''Bloom's BioCritiques: Edgar Allan Poe'', edited by Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. , p. 70. What follows is a study of terror but, more specifically, the memory of terror as the narrator is retelling events from the past. The first word of the story, "True!", is an admission of their guilt, as well as an assurance of reliability. This introduction also serves to gain the reader's attention. Every word contributes to the purpose of moving the story forward, exemplifying Poe's theories about the writing of short stories. The story is driven not by the narrator's insistence upon their "innocence," but by their insistence on their sanity. This, however, is self-destructive, because in attempting to prove their sanity, they fully admit that they are guilty of murder.Robinson, E. Arthur. "Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'" in ''Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales'', edited by William L. Howarth. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1971, p. 94. Their denial of insanity is based on their systematic actions and their precision, as they provide a rational explanation for irrational behavior. This rationality, however, is undermined by their lack of motive ("Object there was none. Passion there was none."). Despite this, they say, the idea of murder "haunted me day and night." It is difficult to fully understand the narrator's true emotions about the blue-eyed man because of this contradiction. It is said that "At the same time he disclosed a deep psychological confusion", referring to the narrator and the comment that "Object there was none. Passion there was none" and that the idea of murder "haunted me day and night." The story's final scene shows the result of the narrator's feelings of guilt. Like many characters in

, they allow their nerves to dictate their nature. Despite their best efforts at defending their actions, their "over-acuteness of the senses"; which helps them hear the heart beating beneath the floorboards, is evidence that they are truly mad.Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "Poe and the Gothic Tradition", in ''The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe'', edited by Kevin J. Hayes. Cambridge University Press, 2002. , p. 87. The guilt in the narrator can be seen when the narrator confessed to the police that the body of the old man was under the floorboards. Even though the old man was dead, the body and heart of the dead man still seemed to haunt the narrator and convict them of the act. "Since such processes of reasoning tend to convict the speaker of madness, it does not seem out of keeping that he is driven to confession", according to scholar Arthur Robinson. Poe's contemporaries may well have been reminded of the controversy over the

insanity defense The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the ...

in the 1840s.Cleman, ''Bloom's BioCritiques'', p. 66. The confession can be due to a concept called " Illusion of transparency". According to the "Encyclopedia of Social Psychology", "Poe’s character falsely believes that some police officers can sense his guilt and anxiety over a crime he has committed, a fear that ultimately gets the best of him and causes him to give himself up unnecessarily". The narrator claims to have a disease that causes

hypersensitivity Hypersensitivity (also called hypersensitivity reaction or intolerance) refers to undesirable reactions produced by the normal immune system, including allergies and autoimmunity. They are usually referred to as an over-reaction of the immune ...

. A similar motif is used for Roderick Usher in "

The Fall of the House of Usher "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in ''Burton's Gentleman's Magazine'', then included in the collection ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' in 1840. The short story ...

" (1839) and in "The Colloquy of Monos and Una" (1841). It is unclear, however, if the narrator actually has very

acute Acute may refer to: Science and technology * Acute angle ** Acute triangle ** Acute, a leaf shape in the glossary of leaf morphology * Acute (medicine), a disease that it is of short duration and of recent onset. ** Acute toxicity, the adverse ef ...

senses, or if it is merely imagined. If this condition is believed to be true, what is heard at the end of the story may not be the old man's heart, but

deathwatch beetle The deathwatch beetle (''Xestobium rufovillosum'') is a species of woodboring beetle that sometimes infests the structural timbers of old buildings. The adult beetle is brown and measures on average long. Eggs are laid in dark crevices in old w ...

s. The narrator first admits to hearing deathwatch beetles in the wall after startling the old man from his sleep. According to superstition, deathwatch beetles are a sign of impending death. One variety of deathwatch beetle raps its head against surfaces, presumably as part of a mating ritual, while others emit ticking sounds.Reilly, John E.
The Lesser Death-Watch and "'The Tell-Tale Heart'
", in ''The American Transcendental Quarterly''. Second Quarter, 1969.

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and h ...

observed in an 1838 article that deathwatch beetles make sounds similar to a heartbeat. The discrepancy with this theory is that the deathwatch beetles make a “uniformly faint” ticking sound that would have kept at a consistent pace but as the narrator drew closer to the old man the sound got more rapid and louder which would not have been a result of the beetles. The beating could even be the sound of the narrator's own heart. Alternatively, if the beating is a product of the narrator's imagination, it is that uncontrolled imagination that leads to their own destruction.Eddings, Dennis W. "Theme and Parody in 'The Raven'", in ''Poe and His Times: The Artist and His Milieu'', edited by Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society, 1990. , p. 213. It is also possible that the narrator has

paranoid schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social w ...

. Paranoid schizophrenics very often experience auditory hallucinations. These auditory hallucinations are more often voices, but can also be sounds.Zimmerman, Brett. “‘Moral Insanity’ or Paranoid Schizophrenia: Poe's ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’” Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, vol. 25, no. 2, 1992, pp. 39–48. . The hallucinations do not need to derive from a specific source other than one's head, which is another indication that the narrator is suffering from such a psychological disorder. The relationship between the old man and the narrator is ambiguous. Their names, occupations, and places of residence are not given, contrasting with the strict attention to detail in the plot.Benfey, ''New Essays'', p. 32. The narrator may be a servant of the old man's or, as is more often assumed, his child. In that case, the "vulture-eye" of the old man as a father figure may symbolize parental surveillance or the paternal principles of right and wrong. The murder of the eye, then, is removal of conscience.Hoffman, Daniel. ''Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972. , p. 223. The eye may also represent secrecy: only when the eye is found open on the final night, penetrating the veil of secrecy, is the murder carried out.Benfey, ''New Essays'', p. 33.

Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of his generation, Wilbur's work, composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentle ...

suggested that the tale is an allegorical representation of Poe's poem " To Science", which depicts a struggle between imagination and science. In "The Tell-Tale Heart", the old man may thus represent the scientific and rational mind, while the narrator may stand for the imaginative.Benfey, ''New Essays'', pp. 31–32.

Adaptations

* The earliest acknowledged adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart" was in a 1928 20-minute American silent film of that title co-directed by

Leon Shamroy Leon Shamroy, A.S.C. (July 16, 1901 – July 7, 1974) was an American film cinematographer known for his work in 20th Century Fox motion pictures shot in Technicolor. He and Charles Lang share the record for most Oscar nominations for Cinemato ...

and Charles Klein, and starring

Otto Matieson Otto Matieson (27 March 1893 – 19 February 1932) was a Danish actor of the silent era. He appeared in 45 films between 1920 and 1931. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and died in a car accident in Safford, Arizona. Filmography * '' ...

as "The Insane", William Herford as "The Old Man" with Charles Darvas and Hans Fuerberg as "Detectives". It was faithful to the original tale, unlike future television and film adaptations which often expanded the short story to full-length feature films. * The earliest known "talkie" adaptation was a 1934 version filmed at the Blattner Studios, Elstree, by Clifton-Hurst Productions, directed by

Brian Desmond Hurst Brian Desmond Hurst (12 February 1895 – 26 September 1986) was a Belfast-born film director. With over thirty films in his filmography, Hurst has been hailed as Northern Ireland's best film director.Screening will honour 'NI's best film ...

and starring Norman Dryden. This version was 55 minutes in length. * A 1941 live-action adaptation starred

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film ''The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for ...

and was the directorial debut of

Jules Dassin Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, whe ...

This version differs greatly from the original tale, depicting the murderer as driven mad after suffering years of abuse by the hateful older man. * A 1953 animated short film produced by

United Productions of America United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio active from the 1940s through the 1970s. Beginning with industrial and World War II training films, UPA eventually produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Picture ...

and narrated by

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

is included among the list of films preserved in the United States National Film Registry. * Also in 1953, an

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, war novel, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through th ...

adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart" entitled "Sleep No More", written by William Gaines and

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine '' Mad''. After retiring from ''Mad' ...

and illustrated by George Evans (cartoonist) appeared in '' Shock SuspenStories''. * In 1956, an adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart" was written by William Templeton for the ''

NBC Matinee Theater ''Matinee Theater'' is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from October 31, 1955, to June 27, 1958. Its name is often seen as ''Matinee Theatre''. The series, which ran daily from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. E ...

'' and aired on 6 November 1956. * A 1960 film adaptation, ''

The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...

,'' adds a love triangle to the story. * An Australian ballet was based on the story, and was recorded for television in the early 1960s. * In 1968, ITV broadcast a television adaptation as part of the horror anthology series ''

Mystery and Imagination ''Mystery and Imagination'' is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by the ITV network and produced by ABC and (later) Thames Television. Outline The se ...

''. No recordings of the production are known to exist. * In 1970,

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

included a solo recitation of the story in the anthology film ''

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe ''An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe'' is a 1970 film which features Vincent Price reciting four of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, directed by Kenneth Johnson, with music by Les Baxter. The stories included are: "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Sphinx", "The ...

''. * A 1971 film adaptation directed by Steve Carver, and starring Sam Jaffe as the old man. *

CBS Radio Mystery Theater ''CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' (a.k.a. ''Radio Mystery Theater'' and ''Mystery Theater'', sometimes abbreviated as ''CBSRMT'') is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, a ...

performed an adaptation of the story in 1975; the cast included Fred Gwynne. * The Canadian radio program '' Nightfall'' presented an adaptation on August 1, 1980. * A musical adaptation performed by

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompan ...

was released on their 1976 debut album '' Tales of Mystery and Imagination'', and was later covered by

Slough Feg Slough Feg (also known as The Lord Weird Slough Feg) is an American heavy metal band from Pennsylvania, formed in 1990 and currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Taking their name from the Celtic folklore-influenced comic book Sláine ...

for their 2010 album, '' The Animal Spirits''. *

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style eponymously ...

adapted the story in 1991, and was broadcast on British television. This adaptation was originally presented on British TV as part of the acclaimed series "Without Walls". * The song "Ol' Evil Eye" off of the 1995 album ''

Riddle Box ''Riddle Box'' is the third studio album by the American hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse, released in October 1995 on Battery Records and Island Records in association with Psychopathic Records. It is the third Joker's Card in the group's Dark ...

'' by the

Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989 as a gangsta rap group, ICP's best known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsl ...

adapts a version of the story, as well as sampling audio from a reading of the original story. * The

Radio Tales ''Radio Tales'' is an American series of radio drama which premiered on National Public Radio on October 29, 1996. This series adapted classic works of American and world literature such as '' The War of the Worlds'', '' Twenty Thousand League ...

series produced ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

in 1998. The story was performed by Winifred Phillips along with music composed by her. *The 1999 episode of ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

'' entitled "Squeaky Boots" loosely adapts the short story. In the episode, SpongeBob’s new boots that squeak with each step stand in for the old man’s beating heart. * The film ''Nightmares from the Mind of Poe'' (2006) adapts "The Tell-Tale Heart" along with "

The Cask of Amontillado "The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado" ) is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of ''Godey's Lady's Book''. The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at ca ...

", " The Premature Burial" and "

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myst ...

". * In 2008, filmmaker Robert Eggers adapted the story as a short. This production was notable for using a lifelike, human-sized puppet to portray the old man. Eggers was largely unknown when he made the short, but it garnered attention when he released it online in 2022, after he had achieved some renown as a director of features. * The 2009 thriller film '' Tell-Tale'', produced by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...

and

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

, credits Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" as the basis for the story of a man being haunted by his donor's memories, after a heart transplant. * V. H. Belvadi's 2012 short film, ''Telltale'', credits Poe's "The Tell-tale Heart" as its inspiration and uses some dialog from the original work. * ''Poe's Tell-Tale Heart: The Game'', is a 2013 mobile game adaptation in which players enact the protagonist's actions to recreate Poe's story on Google Play and Apple iOS. * The 2015 animated anthology ''Extraordinary Tales'' includes "The Tell-Tale Heart", narrated by

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

. * The 2015

Lifetime movie LMN (also known previously as Lifetime Movies, and an initialism for Lifetime Movie Network) is an American pay television network owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company an ...

''The Murder Pact'', starring

Alexa Vega Alexa Ellesse PenaVega (née Vega; born August 27, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Carmen Cortez in the '' Spy Kids'' film series and Julie Corky in the 2004 film ''Sleepover''. In 2009, she starred as the ...

, is based on Poe's work and incorporates allusions to it, such as the "vulture eye" from "The Tell-Tale Heart". * In April 2016, a film adaption directed by John Le Tier was released, entitled ''The Tell-Tale Heart''. It starred

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

Rose McGowan Rósa Arianna "Rose" McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress. After her film debut in a brief role in the comedy '' Encino Man'' (1992), McGowan achieved wider recognition for her performance in the dark comedy ''The Doom Generat ...

, and

Patrick Flueger Patrick John Flueger (born December 10, 1983) is an American actor, known for a lead role as Shawn Farrell in the television series ''The 4400''. He currently appears in a main role on '' Chicago P.D.'', playing Adam Ruzek. Life and career Flu ...

in the lead role. It featured a full narration of Poe's story with added elements imagining the narrator as a former tortured soldier with PTSD. * '' Redrum'' (2018), an Indian Hindi-language film, adapts the story. * In December 2018,

Anthony Neilson Anthony Neilson (born 1967, Edinburgh) is a Scottish playwright and director. He is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. Much of his work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence. Neilson has bee ...

's stage adaptation was presented at London's National Theatre. * In September 2022, DijitMedia released an adaptation entitled ''Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-Tale Heart''. It featured the protagonist as a female house-servant to the old man, as was common in the United States during the 19th century. Elements from " The Black Cat" were included to highlight the similarities between the actions of the protagonists.

References

External links

"The Poe Museum"
�� Full text of "The Tell-Tale Heart"

�� Full text of the first printing, from the ''Pioneer'', 1843

"The Tell-Tale Heart" study guide and teaching guide
�� themes, analysis, quotes, teacher resources
"The Tell-Tale Heart" animation
�� Award-winning 2010 animated movie, teacher resources, student games
20 LibriVox audiorecordings, read by various readers

The Pioneer, January, 1843, Boston edition.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tell-Tale Heart, The 1843 short stories Horror short stories Fiction with unreliable narrators Short stories adapted into films Short stories by Edgar Allan Poe