The Imp of the Perverse

Ever wondered how to combat the deep-seated urge to do wrong? Maybe Edgar Allen Poe can help.

In "The Imp of the Perverse" (1845) Poe sets out to explain the Imp – the archetype responsible for persuading us to do what we know in our minds we shouldn’t. Poe, supposedly distraught with his own self-destructive impulses, lets the story take place primarily in the narrator’s mind as he frets the day he will have to come clean.

At the heart of this short story is the question of how far we can justify our wrongdoings. It explores our self-destructive impulses and urges, the abandonment of reason and our inherent wickedness.

Join Poe as he takes the reader from the sunny valleys of reason to the darkest regions of the human soul. A descent into madness.


Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American poet, author, and literary critic. Most famous for his poetry, short stories, and tales of the supernatural, mysterious, and macabre, he is also regarded as the inventor of the detective genre and a contributor to the emergence of science fiction, dark romanticism, and weird fiction. His most famous works include "The Raven" (1945), "The Black Cat" (1943), and "The Gold-Bug" (1843).