Just a quick note on The Cask of Amontillado. Does anyone else think that deep down, Montressor felt a bit guilty concerning his actions? At one point I believe he mentions something about his eyes tearing up, "on account of the catacombs, of course." Also, considering they were both adults when it occurred and he mentions that half a century had past since then, doesn't it seem that this may have been a confession as he lay on his death bed?

Hmm, Misty that's a good point. I could have very well been a confession. I have read that story quite a few times, but never thought of that. I have "The Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe". My favorite story is "The Tell-Tale Heart". I read it for the first time in the 8th grade and I was hooked on Poe forever. Great thread, sebastiancat.

Sebastiancat, "The Cask of the A." isn't my favorite story because Montressor committed the perfect murder. It's because it is so suspenseful. We, the readers, know that Montressor is absolutely hates his friend with a blind passion, and we know he is certainly up to no good, as down..down...down Montressor takes him--like a lamb to the slaughter, completely unawares! We, ourselves, don't know just what a horrible revenge that Montressor exacts until the end. What makes it so horrifying, is Montressor never really tells us why he is so filled with hate for his friend. I take it that all these slights were in Montressor imagination.

Misty, I think these were "crocodile tears" that were the result of Montressor feeling sorry for himself that he has been driven to such lengths. I don't think Montressor ever feels remorse for what he did--or resonsible, either. It is never (in his mind) his fault. The writing down of his tale was, I think, vanity. He wanted to let the world know how clever he was. The deathbed confession, yes, maybe writing it all down before he died, to be found after his death. That, I think, fits in.

Trish, "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a very fine story.
I like it, too.

A lot of movies have been made using Poe's story tiles as their titles that have nothing, or little to do with the Poe stories, but
there was a really good old film based on Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". I think Vincent Price was the star, wasn't he, Trish? I seem to remember that it was faithful to much of the story. I know it was very scary.

There is also a version of "The Murders in The Rue Morgue" that starred George C. Scott as Dupin that is excellent.

I also want to welcome Trish (aka drac) to the book club. We always can use fresh blood.

LindaC thanks for answering my question. It wasn't asked to offend, but to get your viewpoint. You gave me food for thought as well. What could have caused the bad blood between the two that would result in burying a person alive? We will never know, but the imagination offers such tantalizing hints.

Welcome to Drac. We've encountered each other at other times.

Sebastiancat, you haven't offended me in the slightest. I'm just grateful to have been given the chance to discuss Poe's stories with you and the other members of the book club who gave them a try.

Poe, especially his horror. is really not perhaps everybody's cup of tea. I think some of his stories describe his own descent into the malestorm, don't you think?

I see that today is the anniversary of Poe's death. I wonder what direction his writing would have taken if he had lived to perhaps overcome some of his personal "demons"?

I just finished the book today. I'm glad I got to read it as most of the stories I had never encountered before.

Yesterday was the anniversary of Poe's death as LindaC mentioned. I wonder if his longevity had alot to do with his being an eccentric personality? His personal life appears to have come across in his book. None to fits and bursts of alcoholism, it is reminscent of many of the characters moments of rationality followed by bursts of delusionment.

I found "pit and the pendulum" and "Cask" to be my two favorite stories. "Pit" conveys the inner terror, the psychological trauma that much more appeals(?) to me than say a jump out and scare you book. It is much more insidious and stays with me that much longer.

I actually re-read "Cask" and found that it kept haunting me. I wondered and re-wondered what could have happened to cause death in such a hideous way.

"tell tale heart" i hadn't read since I was about 11. I forgot the gruesome way in which the old man was dismembered all because the way his eye looked to his roommate, as if it followed him everywhere, vulture like. To imagine that set off a chain reaction. And in the story he kept asserting he wasn't mad, wasn't mad. Sure..he was insane.