Chapter 1: The Fall of the House of Usher
* Roderick and Madeline Usher, twins living in an isolated mansion, are visited by a friend who has not seen them in years.
* The friend notices that the mansion is in disrepair and that Roderick is morbid and unhealthy, while Madeline is ethereal and ill.
* The friend experiences eerie sounds and visions in the house and witnesses the apparent death of Madeline.
* Roderick buries Madeline prematurely in a crypt beneath the house.
* The friend uncovers Madeline's premature burial and a struggle ensues, during which Roderick and Madeline are killed and the house collapses.
Chapter 2: A Descent into the Maelström
* A man recounts his experience of being swept overboard during a storm and trapped in a whirlpool.
* He describes the terrifying sensations of being pulled down and the swirling colors and shapes he sees.
* The man slowly sinks, but he manages to grab a piece of wreckage and slowly climbs back to the surface.
Chapter 3: The Tell-Tale Heart
* An unnamed narrator describes his obsessive hatred for an elderly man with a cloudy eye.
* The narrator kills the man and hides the body under the floorboards.
* Police arrive to investigate and the narrator's guilt causes him to confess his crime.
Chapter 4: The Cask of Amontillado
* Montresor seeks revenge against Fortunato, whom he believes has insulted him.
* Montresor lures Fortunato into his catacombs under the pretext of tasting a rare wine.
* Montresor leads Fortunato deeper into the catacombs and chains him to a wall.
* Montresor slowly bricks up the entrance to the catacombs, leaving Fortunato to die.
Chapter 5: The Murders in the Rue Morgue
* Detective C. Auguste Dupin investigates the brutal murders of Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter in Paris.
* Dupin analyzes the clues and realizes that the killer must have escaped through a window.
* Dupin also deduces that the killer is an orangutan that had escaped from a sailor.
Chapter 6: The Mystery of Marie Rogêt
* Dupin investigates the disappearance and presumed murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers, a young woman from New York City.
* Dupin uses newspapers and public records to reconstruct the events leading up to her disappearance.
* He concludes that the killer is a former suitor who had married another woman in haste.
Chapter 7: The Purloined Letter
* Dupin is hired by the Minister D to retrieve a stolen love letter from the hands of the blackmailer who possesses it.
* Dupin analyzes the situation and realizes that the blackmailer is a former police prefect who has a grudge against the Minister.
* Dupin uses a clever ruse to retrieve the letter without violence.
Chapter 8: The Gold-Bug
* William Legrand, a treasure hunter, finds a gold-bug with a cryptogram on its back.
* Legrand and his friend, William Watson, solve the cryptogram, which leads them to a treasure buried on Sullivan's Island.
* They use the gold-bug as a guide and successfully find the treasure.
Chapter 9: Some Words with a Mummy
* A narrator attends a party where a talking mummy is unveiled.
* The mummy reveals ancient secrets and describes the horrors of embalming.
* The narrator becomes overwhelmed by the mummy's knowledge and collapses.
Chapter 10: The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
* A narrator visits an insane asylum run by Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether.
* The narrator is horrified to discover that the inmates have staged a revolt and are now in control of the asylum.
* The inmates torture the doctors and staff, who are forced to take on the roles of the inmates.
Chapter 11: The Premature Burial
* A man describes his fear of being buried alive.
* He shares stories of people who have been prematurely buried and tells of his own precautions to prevent such a fate.
* The man's fears are realized when he is accidentally declared dead and buried alive.
Chapter 12: The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
* A narrator describes a medical experiment in which a dying man is hypnotized to the point of catalepsy, a state resembling death.
* The man's body undergoes a series of strange transformations, but he remains conscious and able to hear and communicate.
* The experiment is ultimately unsuccessful, and the man dies in a state of suspended animation.
