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is loosely based on "The
Premature Burial". The onscreen credits actually call the movie "Edgar Allan Poe's Haunting Fear" despite significant differences with the original 1844 Poe story, including being set in the present day, the main character being female, and ending with her being intentionally
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Fear of burial alive was deeply rooted in
Western culture in the nineteenth century, and Poe was taking advantage of the public's fascination with it. Hundreds of cases were reported in which doctors mistakenly pronounced people dead. In this period, coffins occasionally were
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The narrator in "The
Premature Burial" is living a hollow life. He has avoided reality through his catalepsy but also through his fantasies, visions, and obsession with death. He does, however, reform—but only after his greatest fear has been realized.
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The story culminates when the narrator awakens in pitch darkness in a confined area. He presumes he has been buried alive, and all his precautions were to no avail. He cries out and is immediately hushed; he quickly realizes that he is in the
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of a small boat, not a grave. The event shocks him out of his obsession with death, and soon after, his catalepsy episodes cease entirely, leading him to suspect that they were a symptom of his phobia, rather than a cause.
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to allow the "corpse" to call for help, should he or she turn out to be still living. It was such a strong concern, Victorians even organized a
Society for the Prevention of People Being Buried Alive. Belief in the
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In "The
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Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The
Premature Burial Collector's Edition
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put inside a coffin with the purpose of scaring her to death.
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494:Vampires, Burial and Death: Folklore and Reality
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410:The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
798:The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall
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1001:The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade
532:Poe and His Times: The Artist and His Milieu
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507:Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography
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233:Burial while alive in other Poe works
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456:Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy
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477:Poe, Death, and the Life of Writing
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1308:Tales of Mystery & Imagination
557:with hyperlinked vocabulary words.
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561:"Nightmares from the Mind of Poe"
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1222:Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (wife)
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833:The Fall of the House of Usher
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254:The Fall of the House of Usher
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1188:The Conchologist's First Book
1082:The Philosophy of Composition
882:Never Bet the Devil Your Head
868:The Murders in the Rue Morgue
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1342:The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe
1123:The Journal of Julius Rodman
875:A Descent into the Maelström
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1237:William Henry Poe (brother)
1068:The Philosophy of Furniture
903:The Masque of the Red Death
576:public domain audiobook at
555:Full text on PoeStories.com
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1008:The Imp of the Perverse
994:Some Words with a Mummy
819:The Devil in the Belfry
390:The Cask of Amontillado
371:The Cask of Amontillado
275:The Crime of Dr. Crespi
247:The Cask of Amontillado
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155:, published in 1844 in
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1061:Maelzel's Chess Player
717:A Dream Within a Dream
505:Quinn, Arthur Hobson.
330:In 1961 the TV series
36:"The Premature Burial"
777:MS. Found in a Bottle
763:The Duc de L'Omelette
481:Yale University Press
1350:The Man with a Cloak
1096:Eureka: A Prose Poem
1089:The Poetic Principle
987:The Purloined Letter
973:The Angel of the Odd
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861:The Man of the Crowd
573:The Premature Burial
475:Kennedy, J. Gerald.
291:The Premature Burial
142:The Premature Burial
26:The Premature Burial
23:. For the film, see
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924:The Tell-Tale Heart
668:The City in the Sea
386:The Tell-Tale Heart
367:The Tell-Tale Heart
344:and guest starring
151:by American writer
1397:1844 short stories
1285:In popular culture
1227:Eliza Poe (mother)
682:The Conqueror Worm
675:The Haunted Palace
280:Erich von Stroheim
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464:978-0-8154-1038-6
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1377:(2022 film)
1369:(2012 film)
1361:(2004 play)
1353:(1951 film)
1345:(1942 film)
1337:(1915 film)
1329:(1909 film)
1302:Poe Toaster
1252:Poe Cottage
1134:Collections
738:Annabel Lee
336:– starring
324:Ray Russell
308:Alan Napier
304:Hazel Court
300:Ray Milland
268:Adaptations
149:short story
98:Publication
92:short story
42:Short story
1391:Categories
1318:Portrayals
1268:The Stylus
1247:Poe Museum
440:References
123:Media type
117:Periodical
1366:The Raven
1334:The Raven
731:The Bells
703:The Raven
647:Al Aaraaf
640:Tamerlane
394:The Raven
380:The film
173:catalepsy
1270:magazine
1169:Politian
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784:Berenice
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724:Eldorado
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663:" (1831)
661:To Helen
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578:LibriVox
402:'s film
333:Thriller
240:Berenice
211:Analysis
85:Genre(s)
77:Language
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770:Bon-Bon
710:Ulalume
696:Eulalie
392:" and "
373:" and "
223:vampire
144:" is a
80:English
69:Country
63:, 1919.
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1199:(1844)
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1172:(1835)
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1099:(1848)
1053:Essays
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689:Lenore
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405:Lunacy
310:, and
188:phobia
146:horror
89:Horror
28:(film)
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1275:Death
1180:Other
748:Tales
631:Poems
419:film
204:berth
181:crypt
126:Print
1161:Play
536:ISBN
515:ISBN
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