The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe (Bonus 9)

“We had now some discussion as to the propriety and feasibility of awakening him; but we had little difficulty in agreeing that no good purpose would be served by so doing. It was evident that, so far, death (or what is usually termed death) had been arrested by the mesmeric process…”

This classic gothic tale of mad science ended up being a bit of a challenge to complete for the podcast. Not just because of my 'American accent' (hope it work for you), but also because I got a sore throat soon after I did the recording, and my mic software started playing up. This made it difficult to finish and it did need extra mixing to help make all the bits of the audio match up.

Fingers crossed this won't be very noticeable, and you'll be carried along by, what I think, is one of Poe's best and most underrated chillers.

Patrons help to keep this English gothic podcast going. If you'd like to become one, just visit https://www.patreon.com/newghoststories

Find more ghost story content on my Substack - https://newghoststories.substack.com/

Episode Transcript

(00:20):
Hello, and welcome to our annualNew Year's Bonus episode. I hope you've
enjoyed your Christmas holidays. Today's storyis from perhaps the most influential figure in
the whole history of horror literature,Edgar Allan Poe. This tale is about
an experiment, and it involves abit of an experiment for me too.

(00:40):
Hopefully this enhances, rather than hinders, your enjoyment. Poe was an American
author. After all, This isthe facts in the case of mister Valdemar,
and I hope you enjoy it.Of course, I shall not pretend
to consider it any matter for wonderthat the extra ordinary case of mister Valdemar's

(01:02):
excited discussion, it would have beena miracle had it not, especially under
the circumstances through the desires of allparties concerned to keep the affair from the
public, or at least for thepresent, until we had farther opportunities for
investigation. Through our endeavors to effectthis, a garbled or exaggerated account made

(01:23):
its way into society and became thesource of many unpleasant misrepresentations, and very
naturally, of a great deal ofdisbelief. It is now rendered necessary that
I give the facts as far asI comprehend them. They are succinctly these.

(01:44):
My attention for the last three yearshad been repeatedly drawn to the subject
of mesmerism, and about nine monthsago it occurred to me quite suddenly that
in the series of experiments made hithertothere had been a very remarkable and most
unaccountable omission. No person had asyet been mesmerized in articular mortis. It

(02:13):
remained to be seen first whether insuch condition there existed in the patient any
susceptibility to the magnetic influence. Secondly, whether, if any existed, it
was impaired or increased by the condition. Thirdly, to what extent, or
for how long a period the encroachmentsof death might be arrested by the process.

(02:40):
There were other points to be ascertained, but these most excited my curiosity,
the last in especial from the immenselyimportant character of its consequences. In
looking around me for some subject bywhose means I might test these particulars,
I was brought to think of myfriend mister Ernest Valdemar, the well known

(03:05):
compiler of the Biblioteca Forensica and authorunder the non deplume of Issachar Marx of
the Polish versions of Wallenstein and Gargantua. Mister Valdemar, who has resided principally
in Harlem, New York, sincethe year eighteen thirty nine, is or

(03:25):
was particularly noticeable for the extreme sparenessof his persona, his lower limbs much
resembling those of John Randolph, andalso for the whiteness of his whiskers in
violent contrast to the blackness of hishair, the latter, in consequence being
very generally mistaken for a whig.His temperament was markedly nervous, and rendered

(03:49):
him a good subject for mesmeric experiment. On two or three occasions I had
put him into sleep with little difficulty, but was disappointed in other results which
his peculiar constitution had naturally led meto anticipate. His will was at no
period positively or thoroughly under my control, and in regard to clairvoyance I could

(04:15):
accomplished with him nothing to be reliedupon. I always attributed my failure at
these points to the disordered state ofhis health. For some months previous to
my becoming acquainted with him, hisphysicians had declared him in a confirmed thesis.
It was his custom, indeed,to speak calmly of his approaching dissolution

(04:38):
as of a matter neither to beavoided nor regretted. When the ideas to
which I have alluded first occurred tome, was of course very natural that
I should think of mister Valdemar.I knew the steady philosophy of the man
too well to apprehend any scruples fromhim, and he had no relatives in
America who would be likely to interfere. I spoke to him frankly upon the

(05:02):
subject, and to my surprise,his interest seemed vividly excited. I say
to my surprise, for although hehad always yielded his person freely to my
experiments, he had never before givenme any tokens of sympathy with what I
did. His disease was of thatcharacter which would admit of exact calculation and

(05:25):
respect to the epoch of its terminationin death. And it was finally arranged
between us that he would send forme about twenty four hours before the period
announced by his physicians as that ofhis decease. It is now rather seven
months since I received from mister Valdemarhimself a subjoined note, my dearest P,

(05:50):
you may as well come now.D and f Or agreed that I
cannot hold out beyond tomorrow night,and I think they have hid the time
very nearly. Valdemar I received thisnote within half an hour after it was
written, and in fifteen minutes moreI was in the dying man's chamber.

(06:11):
I had not seen him for tendays, and was appalled by the fearful
alteration which the brief interval had wroughtin him. His face wore a leaden
hue, his eyes were utterly lustreless, and the emaciation was so extreme that
the skin had been broken through bythe cheekbones. His expectoration was excessive,

(06:35):
the pulse was barely perceptible. Heretained, nevertheless, in a very remarkable
manner, both his mental power anda certain degree of physical strength. When
he spoke with distinctness, took somepalliative medicines without aid, and when I
entered the room was occupied in pencilingmemoranda in a pocket book. He was

(06:59):
propped up in the bed by pillows. Doctor's D and F were in attendance.
After pressing Valdemar's hand, I tookthese gentlemen aside, and obtained from
them a minute account of the patient'scondition. The left lung had been for
eighteen months in a semi asseous orcartilaginous state, and was of course entirely

(07:25):
useless for all purposes of vitality.The ride in its upper portion was also
partially, if not thoroughly, ossified, while the lower region was merely a
mass of purulent tubicles running one intoanother. Several extensive perforations existed, and
at one point permanent adhesion to theribs had taken place. These appearances in

(07:47):
the right lobe were of comparatively recentdate. The ossification had proceeded with very
unusual rapidity. No sign of ithad been discovered a month before, and
the adhesion had only been observed duringthe three previous days. Independently of the
thesis, the patient was suspected ofaneurysm of the aorta, but on this

(08:11):
point the asseous symptoms rendered an exactdiagnosis impossible. It was the opinion of
both physicians that mister Valdemar would dieabout midnight on the morrow Sunday. It
was then seven o'clock on the Saturdayevening. On quitting the invalid's bedside to
hold a conversation with myself. DoctorsD and F had bidden him a final

(08:33):
farewell. It had not been theirintention to return, but at my request
they agreed to look in upon thepatient. At about ten the next night,
when they had gone, I spokefreely with mister Valdemar on the subject
of his approaching dissolution, as wellas more particularly of the experiment proposed.

(08:58):
He still all professed himself quite willingand even anxious to have it made,
and urged me to commence it atonce. A male and a female nurse
were in attendance. But I didnot feel myself altogether at liberty to engage
in a task of this character withno reliable witnesses than these people in case

(09:20):
of a sudden accident might prove.I therefore postponed operations until about eight the
next night, when the arrival ofa medical student with whom I had some
acquaintance, mister Theodore L, relievedme from further embarrassment. It had been
my design originally to wait for thephysicians, but I was induced to proceed

(09:41):
first by the urgent entreaties of misterValdemar 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 toaccede to my desire that he would take
notes of all that occurred. Andit is from his memoranda that what I

(10:03):
now have to relate is, forthe most part, either condensed or copied
verbatim. It wanted of five minutesto eight. When taking the patient's hand,
I begged him to state as distinctlyas he could to mister L whether
he, Mister Valdemar, was entirelywilling that I should make the experiment of

(10:24):
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 it too long.While he spoke, Thus, I commenced
the passes which I had already foundmost effectual in subduing him. He was

(10:48):
evidently influenced with the first lateral strokeof my hand across his forehead, But
although I exerted all my powers,no farther perceptible effect was induced until some
minutes had after ten o'clock, whendoctor's p and f called according to appointment.
I explained to them in a fewwords what I designed, and as

(11:09):
they opposed no objection, saying thatthe patient was already in the death agony,
I proceeded without hesitation, exchanging,however, the lateral passes for downward
ones, and directing my gaze entirelyinto the right eye of the sufferer.
By this time his pulse was imperceptible, and his breathing was stertorous, and

(11:31):
at intervals of half a minute.This condition was nearly unaltered for a quarter
of an hour. At the expirationof this period, however, and natural,
although a very deep sigh escaped thebosom of the dying man and the
stertorous breathing ceased, that is tosay, its stertorousness was no longer apparent,

(11:56):
the intervals were undiminished. The patient'sextremities were of an icy coldness.
At five minutes before eleven, Iperceived unequivocal signs of the mesmeric influence.
The glassy roll of the eye waschanged for that expression of an easy inward

(12:16):
examination, which is never seen exceptin 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 incipientsleep, and with a few more I
closed them altogether. I was notsatisfied, however, with this, but

(12:39):
continued the manipulations vigorously and with thefullest exertion of the will, until I
had completely stiffened the limbs of theslumberer. After placing them in a seemingly
easy position. The legs were atfull length, the arms were nearly so,
and reposed on the bed at themoderate distance from the loins. The

(13:01):
head was very slightly elevated. WhenI had accomplished this, it was fully
midnight, and I requested the gentlemanpresent to examine mister Valdemar's condition. After
a few experiments, they admitted himto be in an unusually perfect state of
mesmeric trance. The curiosity of bothphysicians was greatly excited. Doctor D resolved

(13:28):
at once to remain with the patientall night, while Doctor F took leave
with a promise to return by daybreak. Mister L and the nurses remained.
We left mister Valdemar entirely undisturbed untilabout three o'clock in the morning, when
I approached him and found him inprecisely the same condition as when doctor f

(13:50):
went away, that is to say, he lay in the same position.
The pulse was imperceptible, breathing wasgentle, scarcely noticeable unless through the application
of a mirror to the lips.The eyes were closed naturally, and the
limbs were as rigid and cold asmarble. Still, the general appearance was

(14:16):
certainly not that of death. AsI approached mister Valdemar, I made a
kind of half effort to influence hisright arm into pursuit of my own,
as I passed the latter gently toand fro above his person. In such
experiments with this patient I had neverperfectly succeeded before, and assuredly I had

(14:39):
little thought of succeeding now. Butto my astonishment, his arm very readily,
although feebly, followed every direction Iassigned it with mine. I determined
to hazard a few words of conversation. Mister Valdemar, I said, are
you asleep? He made no answer, but I perceived a tremor about the

(15:05):
lips, and was thus induced torepeat the question again and again. At
its third repetition, his whole framewas agitated by a very slight shivering.
The eyelids unclosed themselves so far asto display a white line of a ball.
The lips moved sluggishly, and frombetween them, in a barely audible

(15:28):
whisper, issued the words yes asleep, No, do not wake me,
Let me die. So I hearlet the limbs and found them as rigid
as ever, the right arm asbefore, object to the direction of my
hand. I questioned the sleep wakeragain, do you still feel pain in

(15:52):
the breast? Mister Valdemar. Theanswer now was immediate, but even less
audible than before. No pain,I am dying. I did not think
it advisable to disturb in further justthen, and nothing more was said or
done until the arrival of doctor fwho came a little before sunrise and expressed

(16:18):
unbounded astonishment at finding the patience stillalive. After feeling the pulse and applying
a mirror to the lips, herequested me to speak to the sleep waker.
I did so, saying, misterValdemar, do you still sleep as
before? Some minutes elapsed before areply was made, and during the interval

(16:44):
the dying man seemed to be collectinghis energies to speak. At my fourth
repetition of the question, he said, very faintly, almost inaudibly, Yes,
still asleep, dying, dying.It was now the opinion, or
rather the wish, of the physicians, that mister Valdemar should be suffered to

(17:10):
remain undisturbed in its present apparently tranquilcondition until death should supervene, and this,
it was generally agreed, must nowtake place within a few minutes.
I concluded, however, to speakto him once more, and merely repeated
my previous question. When I spoke, there came a marked change over the

(17:34):
countenance of the sleep waker. Theeyes rolled themselves slowly open, their pupils
disappeared upwardly, the skin generally assumeda cadaverous hue, resembling not so much
parchment as white paper, and thecircular hectic spots, which hitherto had been
strongly defined in the center of eachcheek when out at once. I use

(18:00):
this expression because the suddenness of theirdeparture but me in mind of nothing so
much as the extinguishment of a candleby a puff of the breath. The
upper lip, at the same timerighted itself away from the teeth, which
it had previously covered completely, whilethe lower jaw fell with an audible jerk,
leaving the mouth widely extended and disclosingin full view the swollen and blackened

(18:26):
tongue. I presume that no memberof the party then present had been accustomed
to death bed horrors. But sohideous beyond conception was the appearance of mister
Valdemar at this moment, that therewas a general shrinking back from the region
of the bed. I now feelthat I have reached a point of this

(18:48):
narrative at which every reader will bestartled into disbelief. It is my business,
however, simply to proceed. Therewas no longer the faintest sign of
vitality in mister Valdemar, and concludinghim to be dead, we were consigning
him to the charge of the nurses, when a strong vibratory motion was observable

(19:10):
in the tongue. This continued forperhaps a minute. At the expiration of
this period, there issued from thedistended and motionless jaws a voice such as
it would be madness in me toattempt describing. There are indeed two or
three epithets which might be considered asapplicable to it. In part, I

(19:33):
might say, for example, thatthe sound was harsh, broken, and
hollow, But the hideous whole isindescribable, for the simple reason that no
similar sounds have ever jarred upon theear of humanity. There were two particulars,
nevertheless, which I thought then andstill think might fairly be stated as

(19:56):
characteristic of the intonation, as wellas it adapted to convey some idea of
its unearthly peculiarity. In the firstplace, the voice seemed to reach our
ears, at least mine, froma vast distance, or from some deep
cavern within the earth. In thesecond place, it impressed me I fear
indeed, that it will be impossibleto make myself comprehended as gelatinous or glutinous

(20:22):
matters impressed the sense of touch.I have spoken both of sound and a
voice. I mean to say thatthe sound was one of distinct or even
wonderfully thrillingly distinct syllabification. Mister Valdemarspoke obviously in reply to the question I
had propounded to him a few minutesbefore. I had asked him it will

(20:48):
be remembered if he still slept.He now said yes, no, I
have been sleeping, and now nahahm that no person present even affected to
deny or attempted to repress the unutterableshuddering horror which these few words thus uttered

(21:15):
was so well calculated to convey.Mister L. The student swooned. The
nurses immediately left the chamber, andcould not be induced to return MY own
impressions. I would not pretend torender intelligible to the reader. For nearly
an hour we busied ourselves silently,without an utterance of a word, in

(21:36):
endeavors to revive mister L. Whenhe came to himself, we addressed ourselves
again to an investigation of mister Valdemar'scondition. It remained in all respects as
I have last described it, withthe exception that the mirror no longer afforded
evidence of respiration. An attempt todraw blood from the arm failed. I

(22:00):
should mention too, that this limbwas no farther subject to my will.
I endeavored in vain to make itfollow the direction of my mind. The
only real indication indeed, of themesmeric influence, was now found in the
vibratory movement of the tongue. WheneverI addressed mister Valdemar a question. He
seemed to be making an effort toreply, but had no longer sufficient volition

(22:26):
to queries put to him by anyother person than myself. He seemed utterly
insensible, although I endeavored to placeeach member of the company in mesmeric rapport
with him, I believe that Ihave now related all that is necessary to
an understanding of the sleep waker's state. At this epoch, other nurses were

(22:48):
procured, and at ten o'clock Ileft the house in the company of the
two physicians and mister l In theafternoon, we all called again to see
the patient is condition remained precisely thesame. We had now some discussion as
to the propriety and feasibility of awakeninghim, but we had little difficulty in

(23:11):
agreeing that no good purpose would beserved by so doing. It was evident
that so far death or what isusually termed death, had been arrested by
the mesmeric process, or what isusually termed death had been arrested by the
mesmeric process, it seemed clear tous all that to awaken mister Valdemar would

(23:33):
be merely to ensure his instant,or at least its speedy dissolution. From
this period until the close of lastweek, an interval of nearly seven months,
we continued to make daily calls atmister Valdemar's house, accompanied now and
then by medical and other friends.All this time the sleep awaker remained exactly

(23:59):
as I last described him. Thenurse's attentions were continual. It was on
Friday last that we finally resolved tomake the experiment of awakening or attempting to
awaken him. And it is theperhaps unfortunate result of this latter experiment which
has given rise to so much discussionin private circles, to so much of

(24:22):
what I cannot help thinking unwarranted popularfeeling. For the purpose of relieving mister
Valdemar from the mesmeric trance, Imade use of the customary passes. These,
for a time were unsuccessful. Thefirst indication of revival was afforded by
a partial descent of the iris.It was observed as especially remarkable that this

(24:48):
lowering of the pupil was accompanied bythe profuse outflowing of a yellowish ichor from
beneath the lids of a pungent andhighly offensive o. It was now suggested
that I should attempt to influence thepatient's arm as heretofore. I made the
attempt and failed. Doctor f thenintimated a desire to have me put a

(25:15):
question. I did so as follows, Mister Valdemar, can you explain to
us 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 jawsand lips remained rigid as before. And

(25:37):
at length the same hideous voice whichI have already described broke forth for god
sake, Quack, quack, Mome to step quick, quaken me,
quack, I say to your alarmDad. I was thoroughly unnerved, and
for an instant remained under decided whatto do. At first, I made

(26:02):
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 sawthat I should be successful, or at
least I soon fancied that my successwould be complete, and I am sure
that all in the room were preparedto see the patient awaken for what really

(26:25):
occurred. However, it is quiteimpossible that any human being could have been
prepared as I rapidly made the mesmericpasses emid ejaculations of Dad Dad dart,
absolutely bursting from the tongue and notfrom the lips of the sufferer. His
whole frame at once, within thespace of a single minute or even less,

(26:48):
shrunk, crumbled, absolutely rotted away. Beneath my hands upon the bed
before the whole company, there laya nearly lit mass of loathsome of detestable
putridity. Thank you for listening tothe New ghost Stories podcast. If you've

(27:21):
enjoyed the podcast and want to supportwhat I do, please like, comment,
or leave a review on any platformand subscribe to hear future releases.
You can also support the show bybecoming a patron and visiting Patreon dot com
slash new ghost Stories. The showis written and produced by me, David
Paul Nixon. Would you like toread more from me, visit my Substacknew

(27:42):
ghost Stories dot substack dot com,and you can also find me on Instagram.
Threats mastered on Facebook and the websiteformerly known as Twitter at New ghost
Stories Next Time on the New GhostStories podcast. A nightmare You'll never forget.

(28:03):
H I say to You're the whileI'm dead. I was. I
was thoroughly unnerve