Horror Story Review: “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” by Edgar Allan Poe

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The narrator of this sad little tale has been interested in mesmerism, or hypnosis, for some years. He wonders how would affect someone in articulo mortis, at the moment of death. After wondering about some of the consequences of such an act, he asks whether it can help delay the impending death. And if so, for how long? M. Ernest Valdemar, a friend whom he has hypnotized several times, is dying of "phthisis" (tuberculosis). M. Valdemar agrees to the experiment and is still willing when the time comes. The portrayal of Valdemar’s demise and its aftermath is brutal. For a while, Valdemar responds to the narrator’s mesmeric commands. He can speak, but it takes some effort. He’s been sleeping. The reader gets none Poe’s Annabelle Lee or Ligeia sentimentality here and poor Valdemar, who was only too willing to lend a helping hand to scientific inquiry—or whatever—soon tells everyone he’s dead. Seven months later, he gets to tell them he’s still dead. At the time, Poe’s wife Virginia was suffering from tuberculosis. She would die of it in 1847. This story had the unfortunate circumstance of accidentally on purpose of being published initially as factual. When push came to shove, Poe admitted it was a hoax, but not before the hopes of a number of people has been raised. This story is available from Project Gutenberg in the collection The Works of Edgar Allan Poe Vol. 2 and also as an audio book from Librivox: _____ Title: “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” Author: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) First published: The Broadway Journal December 20, 1845 Source: ISFDB