Edgar Allan Poe is credited with giving the world some of the most profoundly grotesque novels, short stories and poems. In the early nineteenth century, he was viewed as a master craftsman due to the structure of his stories, but Poe’s gruesome stories were looked down upon. Edgar Allan Poe was able to captivate audiences with his use of the upcoming sub-genre, dark romanticism.  The stories made readers cringe to read and visualize the things described by the narrator of his stories, and it is truly evident in “The Facts of the Case of M. Valdemar”. The gruesome scenes and voodoo type of magic shown throughout, what was believed to be a true account, the eyes of the narrator. Those who read Poe’s stories were perplexed by the idea of dark romanticism and literally hoaxes, thus successfully captivating the minds of everyone. 

Mainly, Poe was able to incorporate literary hoaxes into his works, making it intriguing to read and believe. The stories of “mesmerism caused of his contemporaries to believe he had special knowledge on the subject” (Poe’s Hoaxes). In “The Facts of the M. Valdemar”, it comes off as some account of the mesmerizing of Valdemar because the narrator states “It is now rendered necessary that I give the facts- as far as I comprehend them myself” (Poe 66). He also continues on, blanking out some names almost as if to preserve the anonymity of those scientists 

involved because of the extent of this voodoo type of experiment. Poe was also able to convince readers about other ideas, not just the idea of mesmerizing. He was able to convince English readers in 1838 that the Antarctica was visited and he had an account in “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym” and that the Atlantic Ocean was crossed in a hot air balloon, known as “The Balloon Hoax” (Poe’s Hoaxes). I strongly agree that these hoaxes were able to captivate audiences worldwide and made his works more popular and paved the way for a new generation of writing. 

Moreover, the subgenre, dark romanticism was predominantly used by Poe to convey his messages. The subgenre deals with the “adapted images of anthropomorphized evil in the form of Satan, devils, ghosts… vampires and ghouls” (Dark Romanticism). In “The Facts of the Case of M. Valdemar”, Valdemar is put into his mesmerized state, but his tongue continued to speak and move. It made a noise that “reached our ears…from a vast distance, or some deep cavern within the earth” (Poe 71). This symbolizes the devil, controlling Valdemar’s seemingly lifeless body, controlling his tongue. The idea of dark mystery is conveyed throughout the story because it is not known why this man decided to be the first to attempt mesmerism to prolong death, giving a skeptical feel. Poe believed in the ‘“Art for Art’s sake’ before it was considered a thing, that writing, just like art, should stand on its own, without the need to have a grander purpose” (Vellela). Poe’s belief allowed for the creation of works that fascinated the minds of its audience, which always were intrigued by the idea of his dark tales. I believe that his twisted stories and -sub genre allowed for a better understanding into the inner-machinations of the minds of the human race.  

One might argue that Poe’s stories and poems come straight from his insanely twisted

mind and he had no sense of what he was writing about. Some might also say that his stories did not contain any hoax or any type of dark romanticism because the tongue that was referenced was not the devil but “Valdemar’s deepest, most private self, Poe’s description steers it away from signifying anything spiritual” (Pahl 51). While some might agree, it is disproved because the sound came from “some deep cavern within the earth” (Poe 71). During the nineteenth century, Hell was believed to be in the hot, center of earth, proving that Poe did indeed intend for the devil or some evil to be controlling the tongue. Dennis Pahl goes further to state that “Poe takes what might otherwise be a conventional deathbed scene full of sentimentality and turns it into pure, ghastly sensationalism” (Pahl 51). The story was widely liked by readers both in America and England, and was published in many different big name places such as The Broadway Journal.

All-in-all, Edgar Allan Poe is regarded as one of the top writers from the nineteenth century due to his ability to incorporate the ideas that were “taboo” or “risqué” for his time period. He was anti-transcendentalist, and took their ideas and reversed them, giving the sub-genre of dark romanticism, and paving the path for future writers and gave way to some spectacular publications. The ability to convey the idea to the readers that this bizarre story, “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” shows that he had the skills and information to spark a revolution in the literary world, and could convey any idea to the public with ease. The idea that ridiculous things could happen and that were believed to be true gave readers something to hold on to, making it easier to like and understand the stories. Each aspect of his writing is key in his ability to win the minds of the audience and providing insight into the unmentionables of the time period.
