Contes cruels suivis des Nouveaux Contes cruels

According to Villiers, these 'terrible tales' owe much to Edgar Poe. However, this comparison should not be taken at face value: in making it, Villiers hopes to use Poe's literary credentials to legitimate the modern novel. In reality, he renews the use of cruelty in literature and invents a radical new way of hurting the reader.