The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe (1845): A Review

Title: The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Publication Year: 1845, December

Pages: 12

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Horror, Hoax

Source: eBook and audiobook @storytel.tr

Opening Sentence: Of course I shall not pretend to consider it any matter for wonder, that the extraordinary case of M. Valdemar has excited discussion.


I have read this before, but for some reason, I didn’t write a review! So here I am again, revisiting the same horror story. What’s the horror this time? The familiar obsession of Edgar Allan Poe: mesmerism. However, he really toyed with his readers this time because when he published this story, he never indicated that it was a work of fiction, leading people to believe it was a factual account. Imagine their reaction!

The story features M. Valdemar, who has a medical condition that will kill him very soon. The narrator, who is a mesmerist, proposes to M. Valdemar that he can put him in a hypnotic state just before his last breath, and Valdemar agrees. The narrative unfolds as the suffering of a dead-not-dead M. Valdemar under this hypnotic condition, showcasing the narrator's experiment on someone who is practically dead but still desires to truly die!

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