Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most prolific and original horror writers of America, exemplifies the "cream of the crop", his crop being suspense writing. His short stories force even any half-wit reader to crave the next twist or turn in the plot. Not unlike his others, "The Cask of Amontillado" comes with much acclaim and criticism regarding interpretation of the story. However, Poe clearly achieves his goal of affecting readers of any level. While entertaining to any "average Joe", the true depth of such short stories leaves many questions to be answered and, inevitably, analyzed. Through quite a lot of foreshadowing and irony, subliminal and obvious, Poe delves into the mind of his quirky characters and still creates an entertaining and intriguing piece of fiction.

The most questioned fact of the story is discovered at the beginning of the story when Montresor says, "The thousand injuries of...