Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his short stories and specifically the manner in which he was able to draw in the audience and totally hold their focus. Interestingly, it seems that all of his stories have a specific location that is defined by a specific space and time. This locale helps to initially draw in the reader to the world that Poe presents as his launching ground for the story. His mastery of the physical world of his tales is amazing, as is the manner in which he creates these realms. Poe examines his own methods of composition and creativity in the essay The Philosophy of Composition. Within this text, he explains the technique in which he creates the perfect physical space. Specifically, the use of effect, tone, and circumscription of space are the means by which Poe provides a physical world that captivates the reader into the story. This technique can be followed into many of his short stories and revealed within those texts.
             The Cask of Amontillado provides an excellent example to explore the superior means by which Poe creates a captivating physical world. He begins by setting the effect of the story, which is shown at the outset of the tale to be the revenge of Montressor.
             The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge...At length, I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled...I must not only punish but punish with impunity. (1567)
             At once, the reader is given a feeling of looming disaster for the character of Fortunato. This effect begins to work on the remainder of the physical world. The continuing description of space, the tombs and the atmosphere, serve to facilitate the ominous and threatening revenge. The reader will instinctively begin to feel this impending revenge and conclusion of the narrative which will effect their understanding of the descriptive space.
             The tone, however, is also one of impending doom ...