One of E. A. Poe’s more horror-oriented stories, "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" presents the author’s obsession with death, scientific experiments, and resurrection. Playing around with forbidden and unscientific methods, Poe vehemently tries to exhibit his own medical knowledge to the reading public, asking for some sort of pardon for the horrific and disgusting end of his experiment. The depiction of gore and "detestable putrescence" paves the way for another master of American horror, H. P. Lovecraft, whose dream journeys and loathsome descriptions owe a great debt to Poe’s story.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American poet, author, and literary critic. Most famous for his poetry, short stories, and tales of the supernatural, mysterious, and macabre, he is also regarded as the inventor of the detective genre and a contributor to the emergence of science fiction, dark romanticism, and weird fiction. His most famous works include "The Raven" (1945), "The Black Cat" (1943), and "The Gold-Bug" (1843).