Throughout Edgar Allan Poe's life he was plagued with nightmares and the deaths of those he loved. Those nightmares and his tragic life were many times the basis for his stories and poems; often he found himself in the middle of those horrifying dreams and writings as the victim or antagonist. "Nightmares from the Mind of Poe" brings to life those stories with Poe as part of them, as he often dreamed and wrote them. In the movie, Poe struggles with insomnia, sadness and despair in his own life as he creates his stories. The film brings to life four of the most well-known tales from Edgar Allan Poe, the master of suspense and horror - "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Premature Burial" and "The Raven"; all of which are word for word the way Poe wrote them, except "The Premature Burial" which was adapted from his narrative story. In "The Tell-Tale Heart", Poe takes us to the mind of a mad man as he struggles with the thoughts that caused him to do the unthinkable. "The Cask of Amontillado" is the story of ultimate revenge as Montresor punishes Fortunato for insulting him by walling him up in a catacomb. In "The Premature Burial", Poe deals with one of his greatest fears... being buried alive. "The Raven" which was written through Poe's suffering for his dying wife, deals with the dread of death and "impending doom". In the end, Poe realizes that out of his nightmares and tragic life would come his legacy, his stories for future generations.