Buzz
Edgar Allan Poe—can you think of another author whose name evokes such eerie, unsettling tales? A genius of both prose and poetry, Poe immerses us in that dark, forgotten space of our literary imaginations, where cobwebs and shadows reign. Even after more than a century, reading his work is like treading a thin line between dark amusement and total madness. Below, we’ve compiled a list of ten of Poe’s most iconic works. Halloween may be months away, but it’s never too early to embrace the dread.
10. Hop-Frog First published in 1849
The story centers around a hunchbacked court jester who seeks a terrible revenge against those who wronged him. Hop-Frog is the king’s beloved entertainer, but when the king and his arrogant ministers humiliate his friend Tripetta, Hop-Frog decides to retaliate. At the royal masquerade ball, he dresses them as apes and sets them on fire in front of horrified onlookers. As he escapes with Tripetta, he declares, 'This is my last jest.'
9. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar First published in 1845
In the mid-1800s, mesmerism—a controversial pseudo-science—was all the rage among the American elite, and Poe used it as the spine-chilling foundation of this grim tale. On the brink of death from tuberculosis, a man named M. Valdemar agrees to undergo hypnosis in a bizarre experiment aimed at achieving immortality. Sadly, this backfires when his soul becomes trapped in his decaying body, creating a horrifying state of half-life. It’s one of Poe’s most unsettling stories, exploring the horrifying consequences of lingering death and consciousness.
8. The Black Cat First published in 1843
The narrator and his wife own several pets, among which is a large black cat named Pluto. In a drunken rage, the narrator blinds Pluto in one eye, later going so far as to hang the poor creature from a tree. Soon after, their house mysteriously burns to the ground, leaving behind a haunting outline of a cat hanging from a gallows. Eventually, the narrator acquires another cat, nearly identical to Pluto. In another fit of drunken violence, he attempts to kill this new cat but ends up murdering his wife instead, hiding her body behind a wall in the cellar. When the police investigate, they are drawn to an eerie wailing coming from the wall. Upon opening it, they find the wife’s body, with the black cat perched atop her, loudly condemning its master for his horrific crime. [Image: Aubrey Beardsley’s “Poe’s Black Cat”]
7. The Murders in the Rue Morgue First published in 1841
C. Auguste Dupin, a man living in Paris, takes it upon himself to solve the brutal murders of two women, even after a suspect has already been arrested. Witnesses claim to have heard the murderer, but they report hearing different languages spoken. Dupin uncovers a hair at the crime scene that isn’t human, and the mystery unravels to reveal that the killer is actually an escaped orangutan. Often regarded as the birth of the detective genre, this tale introduces a chilling and highly unusual murderer: a massive, knife-wielding primate.
6. The Cask of Amontillado First published in 1846
In an unnamed European city at an unspecified time, Montresor, consumed by resentment toward the unfortunate Fortunato, finds himself with ample time to plot his revenge. He waits until Fortunato is thoroughly intoxicated at a carnival and then lures him into his wine cellar under the pretense of sampling fine Spanish sherry. Once there, Montresor chains the increasingly sober Fortunato to a wall niche and seals him in with brutal finality. There, he is left to perish for eternity. 'In pace requiescat.'
5. The Masque of the Red Death First published in 1842
Prospero, a detached and oblivious ruler, watches as his realm is ravaged by the plague known as the Red Death. Choosing to isolate himself and his wealthy friends in an abbey, he leaves the suffering poor to face their doom. During a decadent masquerade ball, a mysterious figure draped in a cloak appears and silently roams the abbey. Prospero, assuming the figure is an uninvited guest, confronts it, only to realize in horror that it is the manifestation of the Red Death itself. The plague claims Prospero and all his guests, reminding them that no wealth or status can shield anyone from the inevitability of death.
4. The Fall of the House of Usher First published in 1839
An unnamed narrator arrives at the decaying mansion of the reclusive Roderick Usher and his ailing twin sister Madeline. Roderick suffers from extreme sensitivity to light and sound, along with severe anxiety and hypochondria. Meanwhile, Madeline battles a wasting illness, eventually succumbing to death. She is entombed in the family crypt beneath the mansion. On a stormy night, strange, screeching noises echo through the house. The narrator discovers that Madeline, not truly dead, has awoken and returned to confront her brother. In a fit of terror, Roderick dies, and the narrator flees as the doomed mansion collapses into the bog below.
3. The Raven First published in 1845
This narrative poem stands as Poe’s most renowned work. Poetic, eerie, and haunting, it tells the story of a heartbroken lover visited by a mysterious Raven on a frigid winter night. At first, the narrator is intrigued by the Raven's single utterance: “Nevermore.” Soon, memories of his lost love, Lenore, consume him, and he begins to feel her presence. Desperately, he believes the Raven is a messenger from the afterlife, asking if they will reunite in heaven. The Raven responds again, “Nevermore.” The poem traces the narrator’s descent into madness as the Raven remains perched above his door, tormenting him with its relentless refrain.
Contributor: The RePoe Man
2. The Pit and the Pendulum First published in 1842
This tale recounts the terrifying ordeal of a prisoner during the Spanish Inquisition. Accused of an undisclosed crime, he is locked in a pitch-black chamber, where he endures tortures only Poe could devise. Shifting in and out of consciousness, he discovers he is bound to a platform beneath a slowly descending pendulum blade. In a desperate bid for survival, he finds a way to escape, ultimately being saved by an unexpected rescue. What sets this story apart is its reliance on sensory experiences like sound to evoke primal fear, rather than relying on supernatural elements. The brief visual descriptions only serve to amplify the horror of the unseen.
1. The Tell-Tale Heart First published in 1843
In this story, a narrator desperately tries to convince himself of his own sanity after committing murder. Obsessed with the old man’s “vulture-like” eye, the narrator kills him in his sleep and hides the dismembered body beneath the floorboards. When the police arrive to investigate, the narrator’s heightened senses betray him. He begins to hear a loud, persistent heartbeat emanating from the floor. Convinced the officers must hear it too (they don’t), he eventually confesses to the crime. In recounting his actions, the focus shifts from his innocence to his fragile sanity, or lack thereof.
