Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, critic, short story writer, and author of such macabre works as “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1840). Contributing greatly to the genres of horror and science fiction, Poe is now considered the father of the modern detective story and highly lauded as a poet. Poe’s psychologically thrilling tales examining the depths of the human psyche earned him much fame during his lifetime and after his death. His own life was marred by tragedy at an early age (his parents died before he was three years old) and in his oft-quoted works we can see his darkly passionate sensibilities—a tormented and sometimes neurotic obsession with death and violence and an overall appreciation for the beautiful yet tragic mysteries of life. Poe’s literary criticisms of poetry and the art of short story writing include “The Poetic Principal” and “The Philosophy of Composition.” There have been numerous collections of his works published and many of them have been inspiration for popular television and film adaptations, including “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Raven.” He has been the subject of numerous biographers and has significantly influenced many other authors, even into the twenty-first Century.