The Tell-Tale Heart 'And The Monkey's Paw'

When you think of the horror genre, what do you think of? Probably on gruesome and frightening characters such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and the wolfman. Although some may think that the horror genre is only based on grim characters and events, this is a common misconception. According to a literary criticism by Sharon A. Russell, the horror genre is mainly based on conventions, such as organization, characters, setting, supernatural events, and common topics. In a comparison of three short stories including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat”, both written by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart” is the story that has the most suspense. Suspense is the most important feature of the horror genre. Poe’s specific word choice makes the unique organization of the story stand out, which makes the reader wonder if the narrator is reliable, therefore making it the most terrifying story according to the horror genre. First, “The …show more content…
This weakens the suspense since the reader is told the feelings of all characters and the truth. On the contrary, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is written in first person, which allows the story to seem more realistic and allows the narrator to be unreliable. Lastly, although “The Black Cat” has similar word choice to “The Tell-Tale Heart” because they are both written by Poe, “The Black Cat” has less suspense because it follows the traditional sequence of events of a story. Alternatively, “The Tell-Tale Heart” tells us the end of the story at the beginning to increase suspense, since suspense strengthens with the reader’s knowledge of the story. In conclusion, the unique format and organization of the story makes the unique word choice create imagery and stand out all while having a mysterious unreliable narrator, making “The Tell-Tale Heart” the most terrifying story according to the horror