True! –nervous –very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses –not destroyed –not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily –how calmly I can tell you the whole story.
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
Maybe it’s because I’m a cardiologist, but this short story has always been special to me. As is old Edgar, a master storyteller if there ever was one.
On this date in 1849, at the very young age of 40, the world lost the true father of the mystery novel. God bless thee, Edgar.
The Crime Fiction Writer's Blog 
JNSander
October 8, 2009 at 11:49 am
I just returned from VA & visited the Ft. Monroe Casement prison, where Edgar was held for a period of time.
LikeLike