Edgar Allan Poe Collected editions

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) was an American writer, poet, and critic whose darkly imaginative works shaped the modern short story and pioneered the genre of psychological horror. A master of atmosphere and precision, Poe combined Gothic intensity with lyrical beauty, exploring the shadowed edges of human emotion and the mysteries of the mind.

His tales — including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Cask of Amontillado — remain cornerstones of macabre literature, while poems such as The Raven and Annabel Lee blend haunting rhythm with poignant melancholy.

Poe was also a formative figure in detective fiction, creating the analytical C. Auguste Dupin, a forerunner to Sherlock Holmes. His turbulent life, marked by loss, poverty, and personal demons, infused his work with a rare intensity. More than a century and a half later, Poe’s voice endures — a whisper in the dark, a heartbeat beneath the floorboards.