Edgar Allan Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" takes a gruesome, dark approach to portray vivid imagery and philosophical themes that give off feelings of fear, outrage, and empathy while discussing a controversial, scientific topic studied during the nineteenth century. Poe incorporates different writing techniques in order to scare, blind, and outwit the reader leaving a sense of fear from the dark aura. Poe wittingly shows humor by publishing the piece without announcing it was fiction or crediting himself as author; this caused the general public to question if it was a legitimate, scientific recollection of events (22). The meaning and concept of the piece has brought about differing interpretations regarding Poe's true intentions. Poe creates a fiction that engages the reader with multiple literary techniques and devices including the clever emphasis on point of view, the descriptive language found throughout, and the underlying themes. While providing an overall cohesive, dark aura, Poe's controversial subject matter and use of these strategies guides the reader to appreciate his genius.

As soon as the narrator is introduced the reader feels a sense of validity and trustworthiness that he conveys from his speech because of the first person point of view background information to the story. "It is rendered necessary that I give the facts," he says in discussing the extraordinary tale of M. Valdemar (22). The narrator gives very little information about background to the event leaving the reader as if they are in a dark cave with little light, discovering each new part as they shuffle slowly through. Poe absolutely does this on purpose in order to put together a narrative that produces fear and skepticism. The narrator is claiming to have a big story to tell, but the reader does not really know what is going to happen. "I shall not pretend to consider it any matter for wonder, that the extraordinary case of M. Valdemar has excited discussion. It would have been a miracle had it not especially under the circumstances" (22).  Like many of his other stories, Poe utilizes the high shock value ending by giving an unpredictable breakdown of a human body (29). The credibility the reader feels with the narrator is gone after the hero becomes essentially villainous. This is just one of the factors that contributes to the continual, consistent, and creepy mood that immediately comes to mind when Edgar Allan Poe is mentioned.

Reading "M. Valdemar", the obvious that slaps you in the face is the continual use of cohesive language that sets up the overall dark mood. Descriptions of a decaying body and the separation of soul and body seems to just give the reader a sense of disgust and remorse for the victim. Poe depicts "out-flowing of a yellowish ichor of a pungent and highly offensive odor" from beneath a man's eyes and the degeneration of a corpse leaving nothing but "a nearly liquid mass of loathsome-of detestable putrescence" behind (28-29). The imagery developed from this language is the main driving force behind the entire eerie aspect of the story forcing the reader to watch images of wretched scenes in their mind. The imagery feels like it puts almost every other contributor on steroids, helping highlight the language, topic, and themes extensively in every paragraph. Aside from the resulting imagery, the language is also quintessential in creating the realistic feel of this supposed recollection of events. The narrator appears to even be withholding identities such as "Dr. F" and "Mr. L" (22-29). This adds to the supposed credibility of the storyteller as he divulges all information in a conversational tone.

Assisting the imagery and language in creating such a depiction of horror, the overall concept and themes tackled heavily contribute to the aura. One undeniable theme seems to question man's power (as a species and as individuals) over death with the assistance of science and technology. Poe argues that man can uphold the life of the body, but the soul passes when the time has come. Valdemar was predicted to die seven months beforehand without the intervention of mesmerism (23-24). The prolonged life caused his body to immediately decay and his soul to pronounce, "I say to you that I am dead!" (29). The death of the soul continued despite the ongoing survival of the body on Earth symbolizing humanity's efforts to control death are worthless. Going off of that concept, Poe also makes another point known: the body and soul are separate entities. He shows this by claiming a soul to be dead, but he gives the soul the ability to communicate through the living body (29). One has the ability to survive without the other when man attempts to preserve both. Just the subject of such a theory can leave a reader mystified, creeped, and weirded out.

The last main quality of the story that produces such fear and shock value has to do with the overall topic. Mesmerization was a popular topic of conversation in the growing genre of science fiction (that Poe was an early pioneer of) and in popular culture (22). The practice was met with skepticism and fascination nationally, and Poe took advantage of the interest by producing a controversial, seemingly true narrative with unbelievable outcomes. From the beginning, the narrator hints at the forthcoming controversy, claiming it necessary to "keep the affair from the public, at least for the present" (22). Like lobotomy nearly 100 years later, writers take advantage of what is eerie or scary during their respective time periods. Controversial topics interest readers, and Poe capitalizes on the controversy by adding dark language, limited background, gruesome details, and nihilistic themes to complete a ghastly narrative.

Everything from the topic to the themes to the language of "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" contributes to the atmosphere of the story. Poe wanted to create such vibes in many varying ways, displaying a consistently dark aura created by his imagery, themes, topic, and twisted humor which are the main components of the aforementioned atmosphere. Although the topics and some of the language are well over 100 years aged, Poe's legacy and construction of this story still instills the same controversial, nihilistic persona it left when it was written. There's something to be said for his long lasting value, especially when the topic of conversation is nothing short of a laughable, gimmicky issue in present times.

