Dark & Twisty

What about a unreliable narrator isn't to love?  Probably one of the best examples is this story from Edgar Allen Poe, the master of the unreliable narrator.

This story is like interviewing a mental patient.  For laymen, who will never have this opportunity, this story should be an adventure.  The narrator tells you that he is not insane, but tells the craziest story ever.  He even discusses the craziness as a sign of his sanity. 

Poe did a good job of going into the speech patterns of a mentally ill person.  The way he explains thing is much like a mentally ill person does when trying to make you believe that all their delusional ideas are sane. 

Now, why is this scary?  That's easy.  A person who believes his own delusions will hurt you.  In his twisted mindset, he believes that you wish him wrong.  He'll stalk you nightly planning your death, then strike.  It's terrifying to think about.  The real scary thing is that person could be anywhere.  Many people who hold such paranoid delusions or have paranoid personality disorder may have never gotten treatment for his their disorders.  They could be in the next apartment fixated on something.

One of the most fortunate things about people this sick is that their paranoia usually keeps them inside.  They fear the outside world and wont' leave too often.  Only in this story, the paranoid narrator lives with the focus of his paranoia making it easy for him to strike.

So, do you hear the beating of the heart?  Or does your neighbor look a little too suscipious?  Maybe, just maybe you've got a paranoid personality beside you or within you. 

Thump. . . thump . . . thump. . .