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When Freud introduced the theme of the uncanny he suggested that it might play an important role in aesthetics. This has been little explored by philosophers of art. The author emphasizes the contradictions in the notion of the uncanny: pleasure and fright, familiar and unknown, etc. Freud emphasized the contradiction of the neurotic's fright concerning the female genital organs and the nostalgia for a familiar place: behind fear and fascination is an incestuous desire to return to the womb. This may be seen also in the fear of being buried alive, a theme Freud mentions without developing it. Much of the atmosphere of the uncanny that haunts the work of Poe comes from this persistent theme. Poe also develops the theme of the presence of death embodied in a female figure, which may range from seductive to horrible (e.g., Berenice, Ligeia, Morella, Lady Madeline). This wish to return to the mother's body is accompanied by an anal-sadistic regression which transforms the mother's body into a dangerous and destructive monster. The author examines Poe's biography to understand his fascination with these themes. His father deserted the family in the first year of Poe's life. His mother died when he was not yet three. The theme of destructive fusion with the object is prominent in Poe's work. He seems almost to attempt to master the fantasy by a cold intellectual approach. The author singles out especially "The Fall of the House of Usher" as demonstrating this theme. She closes with some comments on the uncanny in Alice in Wonderland and in Macbeth.