The Victorians were especially frightened, and titillated, by the idea of a duality in human nature. The idea that the capability to be both extremely good and extremely bad reside in the same person was something that fascinated them. Of even more horrifying appeal was the thought that someone could appear to be completely normal on the outside but that this exterior could conceal a truly vicious or sinful interior. Therefore, I think that the nature of the narrator would be very scary and also enjoyable for them in the same way that we enjoy scary movies today: we are frightened by them but we watch them because we enjoy that feeling of fear. The thought that anyone could look like a typical person and then secretly do terrible things was an entertaining one. Therefore, I think they really would have enjoyed this aspect of the narrator.
I think they might also have found the narrator's reason for committing the crime particularly frightening and engaging. He hates the old man's "vulture eye"?! That's it?!? The narrator isn't motivated by anything remotely understandable or relatable. He doesn't want money. He doesn't hate the old man. It isn't a crime of passion or retaliation. To kill someone because one hates their eye would strike them as an incomprehensible reason to murder (not that there's ever a good reason).
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