Edgar Allen Poe
10 stories
The Purloined Letter (1844) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Purloined Letter (1844)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 6,326
  • Votes 142
  • Parts 1
"The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt". These stories are considered to be important early forerunners of the modern detective story. It first appeared in the literary annual The Gift for 1845 (1844) and was soon reprinted in numerous journals and newspapers. Cover by the lovely @KatrinHollister
Ligeia (1838) by EdgarAllanPoe
Ligeia (1838)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 4,352
  • Votes 129
  • Parts 1
"Ligeia" is an early short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. The story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman. She falls ill, composes "The Conqueror Worm", and quotes lines attributed to Joseph Glanvill (which suggest that life is sustainable only through willpower) shortly before dying. After her death, the narrator marries the Lady Rowena. Rowena becomes ill and she dies as well. The distraught narrator stays with her body overnight and watches as Rowena slowly comes back from the dead - though she has transformed into Ligeia. The story may be the narrator's opium-induced hallucination and there is debate whether the story was a satire. Cover by the lovely @theynotgone
The Cask of Amontillado (1846) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Cask of Amontillado (1846)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 14,678
  • Votes 383
  • Parts 1
"The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado") is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book. The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified year, is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him. Like several of Poe's stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive - in this case, by immurement. As in "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", Poe conveys the story from the murderer's perspective. Cover by the lovely @theygotnone
The Black Cat (1843) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Black Cat (1843)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 13,547
  • Votes 460
  • Parts 1
Cover done by ds_22_me
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 11,803
  • Votes 281
  • Parts 1
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839. Cover by the lovely @FayLane
The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 21,538
  • Votes 1,096
  • Parts 1
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is relayed by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of his sanity while simultaneously describing a murder he committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy "vulture-eye", as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, and he hides the body by dismembering it, and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator's feelings of guilt, or a mental disturbance, result in him hearing a thumping sound, which he interprets as the dead man's beating heart. Cover by the lovely @FayLane.
The Pit and the Pendulum (1842) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Pit and the Pendulum (1842)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 8,044
  • Votes 213
  • Parts 1
"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The narrator of the story describes his experience of being tortured. The story is especially effective at inspiring fear in the reader because of its heavy focus on the senses, such as sound, emphasizing its reality, unlike many of Poe's stories which are aided by the supernatural. The traditional elements established in popular horror tales at the time are followed, but critical reception has been mixed. Cover by the lovely @KatrinHollister
The Bells (1849) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Bells (1849)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 7,279
  • Votes 493
  • Parts 1
"The Bells" is a heavily onomatopoeic poem by Edgar Allan Poe which was not published until after his death in 1849. It is perhaps best known for the diacopic use of the word "bells." The poem has four parts to it; each part becomes darker and darker as the poem progresses from "the jingling and the tinkling" of the bells in part 1 to the "moaning and the groaning" of the bells in part 4. Cover by: @CaffeinatedKiwi
Annabel Lee (1849) by EdgarAllanPoe
Annabel Lee (1849)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 18,921
  • Votes 1,689
  • Parts 1
"Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman. Cover by: @KatrinHollister
The Raven (1845) by EdgarAllanPoe
The Raven (1845)
EdgarAllanPoe
  • Reads 21,025
  • Votes 900
  • Parts 1
"The Raven" tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". Cover by @Lujayna