The Tell Tale Heart: The Total Effect of the Story What is the total effect of a story? The total effect of a story is the specific response an author expects to get from his/her readers. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," by Edgar Allen Poe, is complete and total horror. The setting, plot, character and even point of view contribute to this total effect of horror. The setting contributes to this total effect in several different ways. All of the shudders in the house were closed, so no one could see anything from the outside in or the inside out. This was scary b