Cover illustration by Michael A. Aspengren
Edgar Allan Poe wrote some spine-tingling tales! Retellings in this collection include "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Oval Portrait," "Morella," "The Cask of Amontillado," "Annabel Lee," and "Some Words with a Mummy."
Hi-Lo: RL 2.6; IL 4–9.
Tales of Edgar Allan Poe is available in paperback (PB) and reinforced library binding (RLB) editions. Perfection Learning, 1999; 68 pages; PB ISBN 0-7891-2859-4; RLB ISBN 0-7807-7853-7.
To order the book, please call 1-800-831-4190, fax 1-712-644-2392, or click
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Note: The publisher also offers Accelerated Reader® software and a Teacher Resource for this title.
I loved the old man. He'd been kind to me. Always. So I'm not sure where I got the idea. But once I did, it haunted me day and night.
You see, he had this awful eye. The eye of a vulture. It was pale blue and cloudy. Whenever he looked at me, my blood ran cold. It seemed to stare at me every day.
Finally, I decided to get rid of it. That's right. I would kill the old man and rid myself of the eye forever.
You should have seen how cleverly I went about it. I left nothing to chance. Indeed, I was never nicer to the old man than during the days before I killed him.
At midnight, every night, I carefully turned the latch of his door. And I opened it—so gently! Then slowly, I put in a dark lantern—no light shone out. And then I stuck in my head.
You must understand that I needed to see the old man as he lay upon his bed. But I did not wish to disturb his sleep. Oh, you would laugh at how skillfully I moved my head in! I moved it slowly—so slowly. It often took an hour to ease my whole head through the opening.
You tell me. Would a madman have been so wise?
© 2003–2006 L. L. Owens
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