August 8, 2025 • 32 mins
Prepare to be disturbed…
In this chilling reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, we dive into one of Poe’s most gruesome and scientifically provocative stories. What happens when a man is mesmerized at the moment of death? And what unspeakable horror lies in keeping the dead in a trance?
Originally published in 1845, this short story pushed boundaries with its grotesque imagery and shocking finale—and still manages to haunt readers nearly two centuries later.
Whether you’re a fan of classic horror, gothic literature, or just looking for something truly unsettling… this tale will leave you breathless.
🕯️Narrated with eerie precision and atmospheric sound, this presentation brings Poe’s macabre masterpiece to life.
In this chilling reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, we dive into one of Poe’s most gruesome and scientifically provocative stories. What happens when a man is mesmerized at the moment of death? And what unspeakable horror lies in keeping the dead in a trance?
Originally published in 1845, this short story pushed boundaries with its grotesque imagery and shocking finale—and still manages to haunt readers nearly two centuries later.
Whether you’re a fan of classic horror, gothic literature, or just looking for something truly unsettling… this tale will leave you breathless.
🕯️Narrated with eerie precision and atmospheric sound, this presentation brings Poe’s macabre masterpiece to life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
One of my favorite memories of scaring myself as a
child was getting a compilation book of Edgar Allan Poe's
stories from my elementary school library. It brought me so
much fear and so much excitement. I remember running home
(00:24):
from school with that book in my backpack as the
sky was dark and a storm was coming. I was
in my childhood living room, but I wasn't alone. I
had a pizza and the books of Poe. Every so
(00:46):
often I'll bring you a tale of Poe, and I
hope it gives you that scary fun sense, just the
same as it does for me. When the clock strikes midnight,
the story will begin. The facts in the Case of M.
(01:42):
Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, I shall not
pretend to consider it any matter for wonder that the
extraordinary case of M. Valdemar has excited discussion. It would
have been a miracle had it not, especially under the circumstances,
(02:07):
through the desire of all parties concerned to keep the
affair from the public, at least for the present, or
until we had farther opportunities for investigation. Through our endeavors
to effect this a garbled or exaggerated account made its
way into society, and became the source of many unpleasant misrepresentations,
(02:34):
and very naturally of a great deal of disbelief. It
is now rendered necessary that I give the facts, as
far as I comprehend them myself. They are succinctly these.
My attention for the last three years has been repeatedly
(02:57):
drawn to the subject of mesmerism, and about nine months
ago it occurred to me quite suddenly that in the
series of experiments made hitherto there had been a very
remarkable and most unaccountable omission. No person has as yet
(03:18):
been mesmerized in arcticulo mortis. It remained to be seen,
first whether in such condition there existed in the patient
any susceptibility to the magnetic influence. Secondly, whether if any existed,
(03:40):
it was impaired or increased by the condition. Thirdly, to
what extent, or for how long a period the encroachments
of death might be arrested by the process. There were
other points to be ascertained, but these most excited my curiosity,
(04:03):
the last in especial from the immensely important character of
its consequences in looking around me for some subject by
whose means I might test these particulars. I was brought
to think of my friend m Ernest Valdemar, the well
(04:24):
known compiler of the Biblioteca Forensica and author under the
gnome de plume of Isaacar Marx of the Polish version
of Wallenstein and Gargantua. M. Valdemar, who has resided principally
at Harlem, New York since the year eighteen thirty nine,
(04:48):
is or was particularly noticeable for the extreme spareness of
his person, his lower limbs much resembling those of John Randall,
and also for the whiteness of his whiskers in violent
contrast to the blackness of his hair, the latter, in
(05:09):
consequence being very generally mistaken for a whig. His temperament
was markedly nervous, and rendered him a good subject for
mesmeric experiment. On two or three occasions I had put
him to sleep with little difficulty, but was disappointed in
(05:31):
other results which his peculiar constitution had naturally led me
to anticipate. His will was at no period positively or
thoroughly under my control, and in regard to clairvoyance I
could accomplish with him. Nothing to be relied upon. I
(05:51):
also attributed my failure at these points to the disordered
state of his health. For some months previous to my
becoming acquainted with him, his physicians had declared him in
a confirmed thesis. It was his custom, indeed, to speak
calmly of his approaching dissolution as of a matter neither
(06:16):
to be avoided nor regretted. When the ideas to which
I have alluded first occurred to me, it was of
course very natural that I should think of M. Valdemar.
I knew the steady philosophy of the man too well
to apprehend any scruples from him, and he had no
(06:38):
relatives in America who would be likely to interfere. I
spoke to him frankly upon the subject, and to my
surprise his interest seemed vividly excited. I say to my surprise,
for although he had always yielded his person freely to
my experiments, he had never before given me any tokens
(07:02):
of sympathy with what I did. His disease was that
character which would admit of exact calculation in respect to
the epoch of its termination in death. And it was
finally arranged between us that he would send me about
twenty four hours before the period announced by his physicians
(07:25):
as that of his decease. It is now rather more
than seven months since I received from M. Valdemar himself
the subjoint note Dear mister P, you may as well
come now. D and F are agreed that I cannot
(07:46):
hold out beyond tomorrow midnight. And I think they have
hit the time very nearly. Valdemar. I received this note
within half an hour after it was written, and in
fifteen minutes more I was in the dying man's chamber.
(08:06):
I had not seen him for ten days, and was
appalled by the fearful alteration which the brief interval had
wrought in him. His face wore a leaden hue, the
eyes were utterly lustreless, and the emaciation was so extreme
that the skin had been broken through by the cheek bones.
(08:30):
His expectoration was excessive, the pulse was barely perceptible. He retained, nevertheless,
in a very remarkable manner, both his mental power and
a certain degree of physical strength. He spoke with distinctness,
took some palliative medicines without aid, and when I entered
(08:54):
the room was occupied in penciling memoranda in a pocket book.
He was propped up in the bed by pillows. Doctors
D and F were in attendance. After pressing Valdemar's hand,
I took these gentlemen aside and obtained from them a
(09:15):
minute account of the patient's condition. The left lung had
been for eighteen months in a semi osseous or cartilaginous state,
and was of course entirely useless for all purposes of vitality.
The right in its upper portion was also partially, if
(09:40):
not thoroughly, ossified, while the lower region was merely a
mass of purulent tubercles running one into another. Several extensive
perforations existed, and at one point permanent adhesion to the
ribs had taken place. These appearances in the right lobe
(10:03):
were of comparatively recent date. The ossification had proceeded with
very unusual rapidity. No sign of it had discovered a
month before, and the adhesion had only been observed during
the three previous days. Independently of the thesis, the patient
(10:26):
was suspected of aneurism of the aorta, but on this
point the osseous symptoms rendered an exact diagnosis impossible. It
was the opinion of both physicians that M. Valdemar would
die about midnight on the morrow Sunday. It was then
(10:46):
seven o'clock on Saturday evening. On quitting the invalid's bedside
to hold conversation with myself, Doctors D and F had
bidden him a final farewell. It had not been their
intention to return, but at my request they agreed to
(11:08):
look in upon the patient about ten the next night.
When they had gone, I spoke freely with M. Valdemar
on the subject of his approaching disillusion, as well as
more particularly of the experiment proposed. He still professed himself
quite willing and even anxious to have it made, and
(11:32):
urged me to commence it at once. A male and
a female nurse were in attendance. But I did not
feel myself altogether at liberty to engage in a task
of this character with no more reliable witnesses than these people,
in case of sudden accident might prove. I therefore postponed
(11:56):
operations until about eight the next night, when the arrival
of a medical student with whom I had some acquaintance,
mister Theodore L, relieved me from farther embarrassment. It had
been my design originally to wait for the physicians, but
I was induced to proceed, first by the urgent entreaties
(12:21):
of m. Valdemar, and secondly by my conviction that I
had not a moment to lose, as he was evidently
sinking fast. Mister L was so kind as to accede
to my desire that he would take notes of all
that occurred, And it is from his memoranda that what
(12:43):
I now have to relate is, for the most part,
either condensed or copied verbatim. It wanted about five minutes
of eight. When taking the patient's hand, I begged him
to state as distinctly as he could to mister L
(13:04):
whether he m Valdemar was entirely willing that I should
make the experiment of mesmerizing him in his then condition.
He replied, feebly, yet quite audibly, Yes, I wish to
be mesmerized, adding immediately afterwards, I fear you have deferred
(13:27):
it too long. While he spoke. Thus, I commenced the
passes which I had already found most effectual in subduing him.
He was evidently influenced with the first lateral stroke of
my hand across his forehead. But although I exerted all
my powers, no farther perceptible effect was induced until some
(13:53):
minutes after ten o'clock, when doctors D and F called
according to a point. I explained to them in a
few words what I designed, and as they opposed no objection,
saying that the patient was already in the death agony,
I proceeded without hesitation, exchanging however, the lateral passes for
(14:20):
downward ones, and directing my gaze entirely into the right
eye of the sufferer. By this time his pulse was imperceptible,
and his breathing was statoris, and at intervals of half
a minute. This condition was nearly unaltered for a quarter
(14:41):
of an hour. At the expiration of this period, however,
a natural, although a very deep sigh, escaped the bosom
of the dying man. The statoris breathing ceased, that is
to say, its steretorousness was no no longer apparent. The
(15:02):
intervals were undiminished. The patient's extremities were of an icy coldness.
At five minutes before eleven, I perceived unequivocal signs of
the mesmeric influence. The glassy roll of the eye was
changed for that expression of uneasy inward examination, which is
(15:26):
never seen except in cases of sleep walking, and which
it is quite impossible to mistake. With a few rapid
lateral passes, I made the lids quiver as in incipient sleep,
and with a few more I closed them altogether. I
(15:48):
was not satisfied, however, with this, but continued the manipulations
vigorously and with the fullest exertion of the will, until
I had completely stiffened the limbs of the slumberer. After
placing them in a seemingly easy position. The legs were
at full length, the arms were nearly so, and reposed
(16:11):
on the bed at a moderate distance from the loins.
The head was very slightly elevated. When I had accomplished this,
it was fully midnight, and I requested the gentleman present
to examine m. Valdemar's condition. After a few experiments, they
admitted him to be in an unusually perfect state of
(16:36):
mesmeric trance. The curiosity of both the physicians was greatly excited.
Doctor D resolved at once to remain with the patient
all night, while doctor F took leave with a promise
to return at daybreak. Mister L and the nurses remained.
(16:58):
We left m. Voldemont entirely undisturbed until about three o'clock
in the morning, when I approached him and found him
in precisely the same condition as when doctor f went away.
That is to say, he lay in the same position.
The pulse was imperceptible, the breathing was gentle, scarcely noticeable
(17:24):
unless through the application of a mirror to the lips.
The eyes were closed naturally, and the limbs were as
rigid and as cold as marble. Still, the general appearance
was certainly not that of death. As I approached m. Valdemar,
I made a kind of half effort to influence his
(17:47):
right arm into pursuit of my own, as I passed
the latter gently to and fro above his person. In
such experiments with this patient I had never perfectly succeeded before,
and assuredly I had little thought of succeeding now. But
(18:07):
to my astonishment, his arm very readily, although feebly, followed
every direction I assigned it with mine. I determined to
hazard a few words of conversation m Valdemar, I said,
are you asleep? He made no answer, but I perceived
(18:31):
a tremor about the lips, and was thus induced to
repeat the question again and again. At its third repetition,
his whole frame was agitated by a very slight shivering.
The eyelids unclosed themselves so far as to display a
(18:52):
white line of a ball. The lips moved sluggishly, and
from between them, in a barely audible whisper, issued the.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Words yes, asleep, now, do not wake me, Let me die.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So I here felt the limbs and found them as
rigid as ever. The right arm, as before, obeyed the
direction of my hand. I questioned the sleep waker again,
do you still feel pain in the breast? M valdemar.
(19:31):
The answer was now immediate, but even less audible than before.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
No pain, I am dying.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I did not think it advisable to disturb him farther
just then, and nothing more was said or done until
the arrival of doctor F who came a little before
sunrise and expressed unbounded astonishment at finding the patient still alive.
(20:04):
After feeling the pulse and applying a mirror to the lips,
he requested me to speak to the sleep waker again.
I did so, saying, M. Valdemar, do you still sleep
as before. Some minutes elapsed. Ere a reply was made,
(20:26):
and during the interval the dying man seemed to be
collecting his energies to speak. At my fourth repetition of
the question, he said, very faintly, almost inaudibly, Yes, still asleep, dying.
(20:48):
It was now the opinion, or rather the wish, of
the physicians, that M. Valdemar should be suffered to remain
undisturbed in his present apparently tranquil condition until death should supervene,
and this, it was generally agreed, must now take place
(21:09):
within a few minutes. I concluded, however, to speak to
him once more, and merely repeated my previous question. While
I spoke, there came a marked change over the countenance
of the sleep waker. The eyes rolled themselves slowly open,
(21:31):
the pupils disappearing upwardly. The skin generally assumed a cadaverous hue,
resembling not so much parchment as white paper, and the
circular hectic spots which hitherto had been strongly defined in
the center of each cheek, went out at once. I
(21:54):
used this expression because the suddenness of their departure put
me in mine and of nothing so much as the
extinguishment of a candle by a puff of the breath.
The upper lip, at the same time writhed itself away
from the teeth, which it had previously covered completely, while
(22:17):
the lower jaw fell with an audible jerk, leaving the
mouth widely extended and disclosing in full view the swollen
and blackened tongue. I presume that no member of the
party then present had been accustomed to deathbed horrors. But
(22:37):
so hideous beyond conception was the appearance of M. Valdemar
at this moment, that there was a general shrinking back
from the region of the bed. I now feel that
I have reached a point of this narrative at which
every reader will be startled into positive disbelief. It is
(23:00):
my business, however, simply to proceed. There was no longer
the faintest sign of vitality in M. Valdemar, and concluding
him to be dead, we were consigning him to the
charge of the nurses, when a strong vibratory motion was
observable in the tongue. This continued for perhaps a minute.
(23:26):
At the expiration of this period, there issued from the
distended and motionless jaws a voice such as it would
be madness in me to attempt describing. There are indeed
two or three epithets which might be considered as applicable
to it. In part, I might say, for example, that
(23:48):
the sound was harsh and broken and hollow, but the
hideous whole is indescribable, for the simple reason that no
similar sounds have ever jarred upon the ear of humanity.
There were two particulars, nevertheless, which I thought then and
(24:10):
still think might fairly be stated as characteristic of the intonation,
as well, adapted to convey some idea of its unearthly peculiarity.
In the first place, the voice seemed to reach our ears,
at least mine from a vast distance, or from some
(24:33):
deep cavern within the earth. In the second place, it
impressed me I fear, indeed, that it will be impossible
to make myself comprehend as gelatinous or glutinous matters impress
the sense of touch. I have spoken both of sound
(24:53):
and of voice. I mean to say that the sound
was one of distinct, of even wonderful, thrillingly distinct syllabification.
M Valdemar spoke obviously in reply to the question I
had propounded to him a few minutes before I had
asked him it will be remembered if he still slept.
(25:18):
He now said, yes, no, I have been sleeping, and
now now I am dead. No person present even affected
to deny or attempt to repress the unutterable shuddering horror
(25:42):
which these few words thus uttered were so well calculated
to convey. Mister L. The student swooned. The nurses immediately
left the chamber, and could not be induced to return
my own impressions. I would not pret tend to render
unintelligible to the reader. For nearly an hour, we busied
(26:05):
ourselves silently, without the utterance of a word, in endeavors
to revive mister L. When he came to himself, he
addressed ourselves again to an investigation of m. Valdemar's condition.
It remained in all respects as I have last described it,
(26:27):
with the exception that the mirror no longer afforded evidence
of respiration. An attempt to draw blood from the arm failed.
I should mention too, that this limb was no farther
subject to my will. I endeavored in vain to make
it follow the direction of my hand. The only real
(26:49):
indication indeed of mesmeric influence was now found in the
vibratory movement of the tongue. Whenever I addressed M. Voldemar
a question, he seemed to be making an effort to reply,
but had no longer sufficient volition to queries put to
(27:09):
him by any other person than myself. He seemed utterly insensible,
although I endeavored to place each member of the company
in mesmeric rapport with him. I believe that I have
now related all that is necessary to an understanding of
the sleep waker's state. At this epoch, other nurses were procured,
(27:34):
and at ten o'clock I left the house in company
with the two physicians and mister l In the afternoon
we all called again to see the patient. His condition
remained precisely the same. We had now some discussion as
to the propriety and feasibility of awakening him, but we
(27:58):
had little difficulty in agreeing that no good purpose would
be served by doing so. It was evident that so
far death, or what is usually termed death, had been
arrested by the mesmeric process. It seemed clear to us
all that to awaken M. Valdemar would be merely to
(28:20):
ensure his instant or at least speedy dissolution. From this
period until the close of last week, an interval of
nearly seven months, we continued to make daily calls at M.
Valdemar's house, accompanied now and then by medical and other friends.
(28:43):
All this time the sleeper waker remained exactly as I
have last described him. The nurse's attentions were continual. It
was on Friday last that we finally resolved to make
the experiment of awakening, or a tempting to awaken him.
And it is the perhaps unfortunate result of this latter
(29:07):
experiment which has given rise to so much discussion in
private circles, to so much of what I cannot help
thinking unwarranted popular feeling. For the purpose of relieving M.
Valdemar from the mesmeric trance, I made use of the
customary passes. These, for a time were unsuccessful. The first
(29:32):
indication of revival was afforded by a partial descent of
the iris. It was observed as especially remarkable that this
lowering of the pupil was accompanied by the profuse outflowing
of a yellowish ecor from beneath the lids of a
pungent and highly offensive odor. It was now suggested that
(29:57):
I should attempt to influence the patient's arm as heretofore.
I made the attempt and failed. Doctor f then intimated
a desire to have me put a question. I did
so as follows, M. Valdemar, Can you explain to us
(30:18):
what are your feelings or wishes? Now there was an
instant return of the hectic circles on the cheeks. The
tongue quivered, or rather rolled violently in the mouth, although
the jaws and lips remained rigid as before. And at
length the same hideous voice which I have already described
(30:43):
broke forth.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
For God's sake, quick, quick put me to sleep, or
quick waken me quick, I say to you that I
am dead.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I was thoroughly un nerved, and for an instant remained
undecided what to do. At first, I made an endeavor
to recompose the patient, but failing in this through total
abeyance of the will, I retraced my steps, and as
earnestly struggled to awaken him in this attempt, I soon
(31:22):
saw that I should be successful, or at least I
soon fancied that my success would be complete, and I
am sure that all in the room, were prepared to
see the patient awaken for what really occurred. However, it
is quite impossible that any human being could have been
(31:43):
prepared as I rapidly made the mesmeric passes, amid ejaculations
of dead dead, absolutely bursting from the tongue, and not
from the lips of the sufferer. His whole frame at once,
within the space of a single minute or even less, shrunk, crumbled,
(32:08):
absolutely rotted away. Beneath my hands, upon the bed before
that whole company, there lay a nearly liquid mass of
loathsome of detestable putridity,
One of my favorite memories of scaring myself as a
child was getting a compilation book of Edgar Allan Poe's
stories from my elementary school library. It brought me so
much fear and so much excitement. I remember running home
(00:24):
from school with that book in my backpack as the
sky was dark and a storm was coming. I was
in my childhood living room, but I wasn't alone. I
had a pizza and the books of Poe. Every so
(00:46):
often I'll bring you a tale of Poe, and I
hope it gives you that scary fun sense, just the
same as it does for me. When the clock strikes midnight,
the story will begin. The facts in the Case of M.
(01:42):
Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, I shall not
pretend to consider it any matter for wonder that the
extraordinary case of M. Valdemar has excited discussion. It would
have been a miracle had it not, especially under the circumstances,
(02:07):
through the desire of all parties concerned to keep the
affair from the public, at least for the present, or
until we had farther opportunities for investigation. Through our endeavors
to effect this a garbled or exaggerated account made its
way into society, and became the source of many unpleasant misrepresentations,
(02:34):
and very naturally of a great deal of disbelief. It
is now rendered necessary that I give the facts, as
far as I comprehend them myself. They are succinctly these.
My attention for the last three years has been repeatedly
(02:57):
drawn to the subject of mesmerism, and about nine months
ago it occurred to me quite suddenly that in the
series of experiments made hitherto there had been a very
remarkable and most unaccountable omission. No person has as yet
(03:18):
been mesmerized in arcticulo mortis. It remained to be seen,
first whether in such condition there existed in the patient
any susceptibility to the magnetic influence. Secondly, whether if any existed,
(03:40):
it was impaired or increased by the condition. Thirdly, to
what extent, or for how long a period the encroachments
of death might be arrested by the process. There were
other points to be ascertained, but these most excited my curiosity,
(04:03):
the last in especial from the immensely important character of
its consequences in looking around me for some subject by
whose means I might test these particulars. I was brought
to think of my friend m Ernest Valdemar, the well
(04:24):
known compiler of the Biblioteca Forensica and author under the
gnome de plume of Isaacar Marx of the Polish version
of Wallenstein and Gargantua. M. Valdemar, who has resided principally
at Harlem, New York since the year eighteen thirty nine,
(04:48):
is or was particularly noticeable for the extreme spareness of
his person, his lower limbs much resembling those of John Randall,
and also for the whiteness of his whiskers in violent
contrast to the blackness of his hair, the latter, in
(05:09):
consequence being very generally mistaken for a whig. His temperament
was markedly nervous, and rendered him a good subject for
mesmeric experiment. On two or three occasions I had put
him to sleep with little difficulty, but was disappointed in
(05:31):
other results which his peculiar constitution had naturally led me
to anticipate. His will was at no period positively or
thoroughly under my control, and in regard to clairvoyance I
could accomplish with him. Nothing to be relied upon. I
(05:51):
also attributed my failure at these points to the disordered
state of his health. For some months previous to my
becoming acquainted with him, his physicians had declared him in
a confirmed thesis. It was his custom, indeed, to speak
calmly of his approaching dissolution as of a matter neither
(06:16):
to be avoided nor regretted. When the ideas to which
I have alluded first occurred to me, it was of
course very natural that I should think of M. Valdemar.
I knew the steady philosophy of the man too well
to apprehend any scruples from him, and he had no
(06:38):
relatives in America who would be likely to interfere. I
spoke to him frankly upon the subject, and to my
surprise his interest seemed vividly excited. I say to my surprise,
for although he had always yielded his person freely to
my experiments, he had never before given me any tokens
(07:02):
of sympathy with what I did. His disease was that
character which would admit of exact calculation in respect to
the epoch of its termination in death. And it was
finally arranged between us that he would send me about
twenty four hours before the period announced by his physicians
(07:25):
as that of his decease. It is now rather more
than seven months since I received from M. Valdemar himself
the subjoint note Dear mister P, you may as well
come now. D and F are agreed that I cannot
(07:46):
hold out beyond tomorrow midnight. And I think they have
hit the time very nearly. Valdemar. I received this note
within half an hour after it was written, and in
fifteen minutes more I was in the dying man's chamber.
(08:06):
I had not seen him for ten days, and was
appalled by the fearful alteration which the brief interval had
wrought in him. His face wore a leaden hue, the
eyes were utterly lustreless, and the emaciation was so extreme
that the skin had been broken through by the cheek bones.
(08:30):
His expectoration was excessive, the pulse was barely perceptible. He retained, nevertheless,
in a very remarkable manner, both his mental power and
a certain degree of physical strength. He spoke with distinctness,
took some palliative medicines without aid, and when I entered
(08:54):
the room was occupied in penciling memoranda in a pocket book.
He was propped up in the bed by pillows. Doctors
D and F were in attendance. After pressing Valdemar's hand,
I took these gentlemen aside and obtained from them a
(09:15):
minute account of the patient's condition. The left lung had
been for eighteen months in a semi osseous or cartilaginous state,
and was of course entirely useless for all purposes of vitality.
The right in its upper portion was also partially, if
(09:40):
not thoroughly, ossified, while the lower region was merely a
mass of purulent tubercles running one into another. Several extensive
perforations existed, and at one point permanent adhesion to the
ribs had taken place. These appearances in the right lobe
(10:03):
were of comparatively recent date. The ossification had proceeded with
very unusual rapidity. No sign of it had discovered a
month before, and the adhesion had only been observed during
the three previous days. Independently of the thesis, the patient
(10:26):
was suspected of aneurism of the aorta, but on this
point the osseous symptoms rendered an exact diagnosis impossible. It
was the opinion of both physicians that M. Valdemar would
die about midnight on the morrow Sunday. It was then
(10:46):
seven o'clock on Saturday evening. On quitting the invalid's bedside
to hold conversation with myself, Doctors D and F had
bidden him a final farewell. It had not been their
intention to return, but at my request they agreed to
(11:08):
look in upon the patient about ten the next night.
When they had gone, I spoke freely with M. Valdemar
on the subject of his approaching disillusion, as well as
more particularly of the experiment proposed. He still professed himself
quite willing and even anxious to have it made, and
(11:32):
urged me to commence it at once. A male and
a female nurse were in attendance. But I did not
feel myself altogether at liberty to engage in a task
of this character with no more reliable witnesses than these people,
in case of sudden accident might prove. I therefore postponed
(11:56):
operations until about eight the next night, when the arrival
of a medical student with whom I had some acquaintance,
mister Theodore L, relieved me from farther embarrassment. It had
been my design originally to wait for the physicians, but
I was induced to proceed, first by the urgent entreaties
(12:21):
of m. Valdemar, and secondly by my conviction that I
had not a moment to lose, as he was evidently
sinking fast. Mister L was so kind as to accede
to my desire that he would take notes of all
that occurred, And it is from his memoranda that what
(12:43):
I now have to relate is, for the most part,
either condensed or copied verbatim. It wanted about five minutes
of eight. When taking the patient's hand, I begged him
to state as distinctly as he could to mister L
(13:04):
whether he m Valdemar was entirely willing that I should
make the experiment of mesmerizing him in his then condition.
He replied, feebly, yet quite audibly, Yes, I wish to
be mesmerized, adding immediately afterwards, I fear you have deferred
(13:27):
it too long. While he spoke. Thus, I commenced the
passes which I had already found most effectual in subduing him.
He was evidently influenced with the first lateral stroke of
my hand across his forehead. But although I exerted all
my powers, no farther perceptible effect was induced until some
(13:53):
minutes after ten o'clock, when doctors D and F called
according to a point. I explained to them in a
few words what I designed, and as they opposed no objection,
saying that the patient was already in the death agony,
I proceeded without hesitation, exchanging however, the lateral passes for
(14:20):
downward ones, and directing my gaze entirely into the right
eye of the sufferer. By this time his pulse was imperceptible,
and his breathing was statoris, and at intervals of half
a minute. This condition was nearly unaltered for a quarter
(14:41):
of an hour. At the expiration of this period, however,
a natural, although a very deep sigh, escaped the bosom
of the dying man. The statoris breathing ceased, that is
to say, its steretorousness was no no longer apparent. The
(15:02):
intervals were undiminished. The patient's extremities were of an icy coldness.
At five minutes before eleven, I perceived unequivocal signs of
the mesmeric influence. The glassy roll of the eye was
changed for that expression of uneasy inward examination, which is
(15:26):
never seen except in cases of sleep walking, and which
it is quite impossible to mistake. With a few rapid
lateral passes, I made the lids quiver as in incipient sleep,
and with a few more I closed them altogether. I
(15:48):
was not satisfied, however, with this, but continued the manipulations
vigorously and with the fullest exertion of the will, until
I had completely stiffened the limbs of the slumberer. After
placing them in a seemingly easy position. The legs were
at full length, the arms were nearly so, and reposed
(16:11):
on the bed at a moderate distance from the loins.
The head was very slightly elevated. When I had accomplished this,
it was fully midnight, and I requested the gentleman present
to examine m. Valdemar's condition. After a few experiments, they
admitted him to be in an unusually perfect state of
(16:36):
mesmeric trance. The curiosity of both the physicians was greatly excited.
Doctor D resolved at once to remain with the patient
all night, while doctor F took leave with a promise
to return at daybreak. Mister L and the nurses remained.
(16:58):
We left m. Voldemont entirely undisturbed until about three o'clock
in the morning, when I approached him and found him
in precisely the same condition as when doctor f went away.
That is to say, he lay in the same position.
The pulse was imperceptible, the breathing was gentle, scarcely noticeable
(17:24):
unless through the application of a mirror to the lips.
The eyes were closed naturally, and the limbs were as
rigid and as cold as marble. Still, the general appearance
was certainly not that of death. As I approached m. Valdemar,
I made a kind of half effort to influence his
(17:47):
right arm into pursuit of my own, as I passed
the latter gently to and fro above his person. In
such experiments with this patient I had never perfectly succeeded before,
and assuredly I had little thought of succeeding now. But
(18:07):
to my astonishment, his arm very readily, although feebly, followed
every direction I assigned it with mine. I determined to
hazard a few words of conversation m Valdemar, I said,
are you asleep? He made no answer, but I perceived
(18:31):
a tremor about the lips, and was thus induced to
repeat the question again and again. At its third repetition,
his whole frame was agitated by a very slight shivering.
The eyelids unclosed themselves so far as to display a
(18:52):
white line of a ball. The lips moved sluggishly, and
from between them, in a barely audible whisper, issued the.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Words yes, asleep, now, do not wake me, Let me die.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So I here felt the limbs and found them as
rigid as ever. The right arm, as before, obeyed the
direction of my hand. I questioned the sleep waker again,
do you still feel pain in the breast? M valdemar.
(19:31):
The answer was now immediate, but even less audible than before.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
No pain, I am dying.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I did not think it advisable to disturb him farther
just then, and nothing more was said or done until
the arrival of doctor F who came a little before
sunrise and expressed unbounded astonishment at finding the patient still alive.
(20:04):
After feeling the pulse and applying a mirror to the lips,
he requested me to speak to the sleep waker again.
I did so, saying, M. Valdemar, do you still sleep
as before. Some minutes elapsed. Ere a reply was made,
(20:26):
and during the interval the dying man seemed to be
collecting his energies to speak. At my fourth repetition of
the question, he said, very faintly, almost inaudibly, Yes, still asleep, dying.
(20:48):
It was now the opinion, or rather the wish, of
the physicians, that M. Valdemar should be suffered to remain
undisturbed in his present apparently tranquil condition until death should supervene,
and this, it was generally agreed, must now take place
(21:09):
within a few minutes. I concluded, however, to speak to
him once more, and merely repeated my previous question. While
I spoke, there came a marked change over the countenance
of the sleep waker. The eyes rolled themselves slowly open,
(21:31):
the pupils disappearing upwardly. The skin generally assumed a cadaverous hue,
resembling not so much parchment as white paper, and the
circular hectic spots which hitherto had been strongly defined in
the center of each cheek, went out at once. I
(21:54):
used this expression because the suddenness of their departure put
me in mine and of nothing so much as the
extinguishment of a candle by a puff of the breath.
The upper lip, at the same time writhed itself away
from the teeth, which it had previously covered completely, while
(22:17):
the lower jaw fell with an audible jerk, leaving the
mouth widely extended and disclosing in full view the swollen
and blackened tongue. I presume that no member of the
party then present had been accustomed to deathbed horrors. But
(22:37):
so hideous beyond conception was the appearance of M. Valdemar
at this moment, that there was a general shrinking back
from the region of the bed. I now feel that
I have reached a point of this narrative at which
every reader will be startled into positive disbelief. It is
(23:00):
my business, however, simply to proceed. There was no longer
the faintest sign of vitality in M. Valdemar, and concluding
him to be dead, we were consigning him to the
charge of the nurses, when a strong vibratory motion was
observable in the tongue. This continued for perhaps a minute.
(23:26):
At the expiration of this period, there issued from the
distended and motionless jaws a voice such as it would
be madness in me to attempt describing. There are indeed
two or three epithets which might be considered as applicable
to it. In part, I might say, for example, that
(23:48):
the sound was harsh and broken and hollow, but the
hideous whole is indescribable, for the simple reason that no
similar sounds have ever jarred upon the ear of humanity.
There were two particulars, nevertheless, which I thought then and
(24:10):
still think might fairly be stated as characteristic of the intonation,
as well, adapted to convey some idea of its unearthly peculiarity.
In the first place, the voice seemed to reach our ears,
at least mine from a vast distance, or from some
(24:33):
deep cavern within the earth. In the second place, it
impressed me I fear, indeed, that it will be impossible
to make myself comprehend as gelatinous or glutinous matters impress
the sense of touch. I have spoken both of sound
(24:53):
and of voice. I mean to say that the sound
was one of distinct, of even wonderful, thrillingly distinct syllabification.
M Valdemar spoke obviously in reply to the question I
had propounded to him a few minutes before I had
asked him it will be remembered if he still slept.
(25:18):
He now said, yes, no, I have been sleeping, and
now now I am dead. No person present even affected
to deny or attempt to repress the unutterable shuddering horror
(25:42):
which these few words thus uttered were so well calculated
to convey. Mister L. The student swooned. The nurses immediately
left the chamber, and could not be induced to return
my own impressions. I would not pret tend to render
unintelligible to the reader. For nearly an hour, we busied
(26:05):
ourselves silently, without the utterance of a word, in endeavors
to revive mister L. When he came to himself, he
addressed ourselves again to an investigation of m. Valdemar's condition.
It remained in all respects as I have last described it,
(26:27):
with the exception that the mirror no longer afforded evidence
of respiration. An attempt to draw blood from the arm failed.
I should mention too, that this limb was no farther
subject to my will. I endeavored in vain to make
it follow the direction of my hand. The only real
(26:49):
indication indeed of mesmeric influence was now found in the
vibratory movement of the tongue. Whenever I addressed M. Voldemar
a question, he seemed to be making an effort to reply,
but had no longer sufficient volition to queries put to
(27:09):
him by any other person than myself. He seemed utterly insensible,
although I endeavored to place each member of the company
in mesmeric rapport with him. I believe that I have
now related all that is necessary to an understanding of
the sleep waker's state. At this epoch, other nurses were procured,
(27:34):
and at ten o'clock I left the house in company
with the two physicians and mister l In the afternoon
we all called again to see the patient. His condition
remained precisely the same. We had now some discussion as
to the propriety and feasibility of awakening him, but we
(27:58):
had little difficulty in agreeing that no good purpose would
be served by doing so. It was evident that so
far death, or what is usually termed death, had been
arrested by the mesmeric process. It seemed clear to us
all that to awaken M. Valdemar would be merely to
(28:20):
ensure his instant or at least speedy dissolution. From this
period until the close of last week, an interval of
nearly seven months, we continued to make daily calls at M.
Valdemar's house, accompanied now and then by medical and other friends.
(28:43):
All this time the sleeper waker remained exactly as I
have last described him. The nurse's attentions were continual. It
was on Friday last that we finally resolved to make
the experiment of awakening, or a tempting to awaken him.
And it is the perhaps unfortunate result of this latter
(29:07):
experiment which has given rise to so much discussion in
private circles, to so much of what I cannot help
thinking unwarranted popular feeling. For the purpose of relieving M.
Valdemar from the mesmeric trance, I made use of the
customary passes. These, for a time were unsuccessful. The first
(29:32):
indication of revival was afforded by a partial descent of
the iris. It was observed as especially remarkable that this
lowering of the pupil was accompanied by the profuse outflowing
of a yellowish ecor from beneath the lids of a
pungent and highly offensive odor. It was now suggested that
(29:57):
I should attempt to influence the patient's arm as heretofore.
I made the attempt and failed. Doctor f then intimated
a desire to have me put a question. I did
so as follows, M. Valdemar, Can you explain to us
(30:18):
what are your feelings or wishes? Now there was an
instant return of the hectic circles on the cheeks. The
tongue quivered, or rather rolled violently in the mouth, although
the jaws and lips remained rigid as before. And at
length the same hideous voice which I have already described
(30:43):
broke forth.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
For God's sake, quick, quick put me to sleep, or
quick waken me quick, I say to you that I
am dead.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
I was thoroughly un nerved, and for an instant remained
undecided what to do. At first, I made an endeavor
to recompose the patient, but failing in this through total
abeyance of the will, I retraced my steps, and as
earnestly struggled to awaken him in this attempt, I soon
(31:22):
saw that I should be successful, or at least I
soon fancied that my success would be complete, and I
am sure that all in the room, were prepared to
see the patient awaken for what really occurred. However, it
is quite impossible that any human being could have been
(31:43):
prepared as I rapidly made the mesmeric passes, amid ejaculations
of dead dead, absolutely bursting from the tongue, and not
from the lips of the sufferer. His whole frame at once,
within the space of a single minute or even less, shrunk, crumbled,
(32:08):
absolutely rotted away. Beneath my hands, upon the bed before
that whole company, there lay a nearly liquid mass of
loathsome of detestable putridity,
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