The Tell-Tale Heart & The Raven

by Edgar Allan Poe, Alex Wilson (Narrator)

"You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me." The Master of the Macabre's most famous horrific short story, followed by his just-as-famous archetype of dark poetry.

Genres: Classics, Poetry, Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Mental Health

1 pages, Audiobook

Published August 16, 2005

About the author

The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.

Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.

The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoooky.
I listened to the audiobook version of these two stories narrated by Alex Wilson. He did a fantastic job with The Tell-Tale Heart. Dead on rendition of madness as it overtook the narrator. And he really captured the frenzy at the end of the story as the killer unraveled.
But The Raven? Not so much.
Neveahmoooore. <---Like, it was way over the top. It made me giggle. Not good.



I love The Tell-Tale Heart. That's just a creepy bit of insanity and so well done for such a short burst. But most great horror is better done in short bursts. You start dragging stories out and then you have to eventually come up with explanations that tend to make things less scary than the ambiguous endings you can get away with in short stories.
Moral of this story? If you get a great heaping dose of syphilis or something like it, you need to go to the doctor. More importantly, if you live in the house with someone who you suspect does? Well, sleep with one eye open.
JUST NOT YOUR CRAZY EYE!



The Raven is a classic.
The poetic version of We Will Rock You.
The latter plays in sports stadiums year round, getting crowds of all ages clapping and stomping their feet in unison. The Raven is what gets pulled out and quoted by emos of all ages. It's simultaneously a poster on some kid's wall, a screensaver for someone in college, and a coffee cup in a middle-aged person's hand. It says I have depth and I read real literature. And most importantly, I know darkness.
However, I've also found that as I get older I find poems like The Raven a bit too up their own ass for me to really dig anymore.
Really? That raven tap, tap, tapped on your door?
And then he quothed at you, huh? Wow.
In my head, I think of every conversation I've had to try to disentangle myself from over the years with pretentious dingdongs who take themselves too seriously.
NEVERMORE.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one gets five stars for the actual content and three stars for the audiobook recording. And to further break it down, the recording gets four stars for “The Tell-Tale Heart” and two for “The Raven.” Alex Wilson (the narrator) has possibly recorded the strangest, least spooky version of “The Raven” I've ever heard. “Nevamooooore,” indeed. I laughed out loud every single time he said it.

But ignoring the questionable narration, this is Poe's writing at its finest. I've already told the story of my teenage obsession with Poe in a previous review so I won't repeat it here, but reading Poe is always hella nostalgic for me. And “The Raven” will forever forevamooooore (ha ha, I kill me) be one of my favorite bits of poetry of all time.

Find another audiobook if you can, though (or just read the pieces in print – both are super short). I'm not sure it's possible to truly appreciate the creepiness of Poe's writing with this particular recording.

[yasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was great

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've got 20 minutes spare then read both to get a taste of one of the masters of this genre. There's a reason Poe is remembered all these years later - he weaves suspense and paranoia so finely that the pacing escapes itself and before you know it you're completely drawn into the grotesque and horrific world he has crafted. Here is his finest example, showing why horror is so closely associated with his name, done in such a fashion across both works that many short story writers to this day would struggle to follow up on.

[LucyLui · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Edgar Allan Poe and this story was no different.
Fantastic, beautiful and pure Poe

[Dana Melton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Gothic Poetic Thriller! Need I say more 💕

[Kelly Pinkerton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recently, I answered a trivia question about The Tell-Tale Heart, and it inspired me to revisit this short story that I haven't read since high school. I found an audible version that included a rendition of The Raven as well, and I have to admit that I'd forgotten what a wordsmith Poe was!
I remember being struck by the ending of the Tell-Tale Heart, and it is a story of crime, insanity, and guilt that has stayed with me for many years. Both are a quick read and there are quite a few online resources that provide excellent summaries, insight, and details about the poem, the short story, and Poe's life.

[Brittany Durgin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So dark!

[Aseel Shihab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird and spooky but I enjoyed it
Also the audiobook is 5 ⭐️ it made the experience much more interesting 👏🏼

[Rikki]

Is this cheating to count this toward my reading goal? 😝 I did just read both of these today. Was my first time reading The Tell-Tale Heart (so very like The Black Cat!), but my hundredth or so reading of The Raven (though only my second performance of it for a listener). I liked TTTH but adore The Raven--as everyone does, yeah, yeah, I know. I've always had a special connection with it, as I'm sure everyone else does. It only gets heavier as I get older, more poignantly sorrowful and evermore relatable. I get something new out of it every time. If I could make a recommendation, always read poetry out loud, and do it several times. Make notes. Ask questions. Draw comparisons. Have revelations. Read it again.

[A. Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's just something so special about listening to these two stories. Poe's writing style lends itself perfectly to the audiobook format. I remember the first time I listened to one of his short stories, it was The Tell-Tale Heart and I was a middle school student overwhelmed by homework. I was listening to instrumental music in the background on a random site and a narration of the stories suddenly came on. I paused what I was doing and just let myself be enveloped by the words. I don't think I fully understood what I was listening to, but I do remember the feeling.
The feeling hasn't changed.
I don't usually enjoy being scared or even a little creeped out, the eerie is not usually for me, but these stories just scratch an itch in my brain like nothing else does.

[Sky_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read The Tell Tale Heart audiobook. I know people say it doesn’t count but i think it does i mean i read subtitles that went along with it lol. I really liked this book though! I’m not sure which version of Ghe Tell Tale Heart I read but I really liked it. I believe that the book was about a man going mad but didn’t want to accept it. He had some major issues and something ticked him off about this old man’s eye and then the heart. I really liked how descriptive it was and I liked the character and his point of view and I like the ending.

[Audio Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook duration: 27 minutes
Narrator: Alex Wilson

I forgot how crazy the guy goes at the end of Tell-Tale Heart. The voice actor didn't sound like Bart Simpson when he did "Nevermore" though, so that was disappointing to my 90's child brain.

[Mandy Crumb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audio version is only 20 minutes and you get two classics. What's not to love?!? Do yourself a favor and listen and listen once more.

[Jessica Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classics. When you want a quick classic read.

[Al Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Poe, so these two need no introduction. I didn't like the guy who read The Raven, it sounded like he was reading a children's book, but the Tell-Tale Heart was well done.

[Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poe's works always evoke a bit of excitement and disgust at the same time. This is no different. Yet this one feels a bit more maddening than others I've read before this one.

[Skylar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Poe is an experience, but listening to someone else read Poe is an experience and a half ✨

[Kady · Rating 3 out of 5]

The well known classics are good. The raven was hard to understand but I like the telltale hart

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the audiobook version. Super job very creepy!

[Adia]

3.5 stars for the narrator.

[Samira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a fan of the gruesome and dark words of Poe even so, I can appreciate his contributions to the literary world.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark, creepy, suspenseful. Great for a short read, kind of crazy how famous these stories became when they are so short! Poe was such an original and these stories were genius

[AMY CUTLER · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened in audiobook format. The dramatic performance of Poe’s most famous poems truly enriched the experience. It’s easy to appreciate their significance. Within a few short words, Poe crafts and whole story rich with tension that culminates in a crescendo of emotional unraveling.