| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract in English | 第6-9页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第9-23页 |
| ·Poe and his gothic fictions | 第9-19页 |
| ·Influence from personal life | 第10-11页 |
| ·Influence from the British gothic novel | 第11-18页 |
| ·Influence from American literature traditions | 第18-19页 |
| ·Literature review | 第19-20页 |
| ·Layout of the dissertation | 第20-23页 |
| 2. Dreadful Pleasure: the Aesthetic Value of Horror | 第23-40页 |
| ·Horror as an aesthetic subject | 第23-37页 |
| ·Beauty of ugliness | 第24-32页 |
| ·Aristotle's theory of tragedy | 第32-34页 |
| ·Burke's theory of sublimity and beauty | 第34-37页 |
| ·Delights of pain—power of horror | 第37-40页 |
| 3. Horror from Human Soul: Poe's Universal Humanist Concern | 第40-51页 |
| ·Horror towards super nature | 第40-44页 |
| ·Horror towards death | 第44-46页 |
| ·Horror towards nothingness | 第46-47页 |
| ·Horror towards evil of human nature | 第47-49页 |
| ·Horror towards disintegration of personality | 第49-51页 |
| 4. Charm of Horror: Aesthetic Values in Poe's Gothic Fiction | 第51-56页 |
| ·Horror brings purification of human Soul | 第51-53页 |
| ·Horror produces sublimity | 第53-56页 |
| 5. Means to Achieve the Aesthetic Effects | 第56-64页 |
| ·Symbol | 第56-58页 |
| ·Suspense | 第58-59页 |
| ·Setting and atmosphere | 第59-60页 |
| ·Open ending | 第60-61页 |
| ·The first person point of view | 第61-64页 |
| 6. Conclusion | 第64-67页 |
| Bibliography | 第67-68页 |
