This paper explores the importance of the narrative perspective in Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories – the horror story “The Tell­Tale Heart,” the adventure story “MS. Found in a Bottle,” and the detective story “The Purloined Letter.” Drawing upon narrative theory, it argues that the narrative perspective is an important aspect of Poe’s literary technique and one of the key instruments in producing the ultimate narrative effect. Even though all three stories employ first­person narration and reflect the conventions of their respective genres – “The Tell­Tale Heart” relies on mystery, murder, and gore, “MS. Found in a Bottle” contains life­or­death situations and the propensity for the unknown, and “The Purloined Letter” describes an unsolvable case ready to be cracked – there are significant differences in the way their narrative voice is constructed and perceived. Unlike “The Tell­Tale Heart,” which is told by an unreliable narrator whose delusion and irrational actions undermine his claim to reliability, the focalization in “MS. Found in a Bottle” presents an unbelievable story through an autodiegetic narrator whose rationality shapes the story’s final effect. Likewise, the homodiegetic narrator in “The Purloined Letter” significantly contributes to the story’s innovative narrative effect. The paper maintains that their narrative perspectives make Poe’s stories worth analyzing as they raise the (still very relevant) questions of credibility and reliability not just in literature but also in every single medium.