Premature Burial
By: Edgar Allen Poe
About...
The Premature Burial is a "Horror Story" on the theme of being buried alive, written by Edgar Allan Poe, (1809-1849) and published in 1844 in The Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper. The fear of being buried alive was common in the period and Poe was taking the advantage of the public interest.
About....
The first-person unnamed narrator describes his struggle with things such as "attacks of singular disorder which physicians have agreed to term Catalepsy, a conditions where her randomly falls into death-like trance. This leads to his fear of being buried alive.
About...
He emphasizes his fear by mentioning several people who have been buried alive. In the first case, the tragic accident was only discovered much later, when the victim's crypt was reopened. In others, victims revived and were able to draw attention to themselves in time to be freed from their ghastly prisons.
About...
The narrator reviews these examples in order to provide context for his nearly crippling phobia of being buried alive. As he explains, his condition made him prone to slipping into a trance state of unconsciousness, a disease that grew progressively worse over time. He became obsessed with the idea that he would fall into such a state while away from home, and that his state would be mistaken for death. He extracts promises from his friends that they will not bury him prematurely, refuses to leave his home, and builds an elaborate tomg with equipment allowing him to signal for help in case he should awaken after "death".
Facts
- Poe was born on January 19,1809 and he died on October 7, 1849.
- He wrote a lot of different short stories, some of the popular ones are Tell Tale Heart, Raven, and The Black Cat.
- Poe is best known for his poetry and his short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre.