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Tales of Horror
A murderer is forced to reveal his crime by the sound of a beating heart, a mysterious figure wreaks havoc among a party of noblemen during the time of the plague, a grieving lover awakens to find himself clutching a box of his beloved blood-stained teeth, a man is obsessed with the fear of being buried alive – these are only some of the memorable characters and stories included in this volume, which exemplify Poe’s inventiveness and natural talent as a storyteller.
Immensely popular both during and after his lifetime, and a powerful influence on generations of writers and film-makers to this day, Edgar Allan Poe is still counted among the greatest short-story writers of all time and seen as one of the initiators of the detective, horror and science-fiction genres.
Immensely popular both during and after his lifetime, and a powerful influence on generations of writers and film-makers to this day, Edgar Allan Poe is still counted among the greatest short-story writers of all time and seen as one of the initiators of the detective, horror and science-fiction genres.
311 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 1849
756 people are currently reading
3895 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,870 books28.6k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews
May 29, 2019
I read a couple Poe stories in high school and college as I'm sure most everyone has but this is the first time I really delve into his work. I'm sad to say that I am a bit disappointed. I know this collection is just a fraction of his complete works and I'm sure there are many gems that weren't in this particular collection.
I only really enjoyed three stories from this one which normally would merit less than three stars. But the three stories that I did enjoy, I REALLY enjoyed. Actually, I didn't just enjoy them, I LOVED them. Those three stars were The Oval Portrait, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-Tale Heart. I was so engrossed by each of them, all for very different reasons.
I only really enjoyed three stories from this one which normally would merit less than three stars. But the three stories that I did enjoy, I REALLY enjoyed. Actually, I didn't just enjoy them, I LOVED them. Those three stars were The Oval Portrait, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-Tale Heart. I was so engrossed by each of them, all for very different reasons.
October 27, 2020
This collection is a total mixed bag.
Some of these stories are A-Grade horror (eg. The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death), some are ridiculously terrible (The Imp of the Perverse), others just leave you scratching your head wondering what just happened, or what the point was (The Man of the Crowd, Some Words with a Mummy) and one had me in stitches from its absurdity (Never Bet the Devil Your Head). The first few and the last few didn't really rate with me (there's only so many tales of 'beloved's I can take), but there were some seriously great reads in amongst this volume.
Favourites: The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Masque of the Red Death.
I also have to give Never Bet the Devil Your Head a special mention because it was totally, unexpectedly, messed up. Honestly, I didn't stop laughing about it for a good half hour or so.
Least Favourites: The Imp of the Perverse, Some Words with a Mummy, Ligeia
A lot of the tales you really have to be patient with because Poe spends so much time setting the scene that it can be a little tedious. The power of his stories lies in the atmosphere his words create, and he goes to great lengths to communicate ideas.
He also kills people. A lot.
There are so many psychopaths in this book. The horror is how human he makes them seem. Again, he uses his words to craft characters that we understand, that we feel sympathy for despite the horrible actions they relate. It's masterful storytelling.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter were very reminiscent of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes; however, though entertaining reads, they were both inferior to Conan Doyle's work. It did help to lighten the tone of the book, though, so both presented a refreshing change of pace.
Poe deals a lot in symbolism and hidden meaning, so taken at face value some of these stories can be pretty dull and/or bizarre. For deep thinkers, there'll be a lot of different themes to mull over, like guilt, regret, fear, ambiguity and more.
Highly recommend if you're up for something a little bit different, and the stories are short enough that you can read a few here and there without getting too caught up in the bizarre. Just be prepared for lengthy descriptions and confounding ideas.
Some of these stories are A-Grade horror (eg. The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death), some are ridiculously terrible (The Imp of the Perverse), others just leave you scratching your head wondering what just happened, or what the point was (The Man of the Crowd, Some Words with a Mummy) and one had me in stitches from its absurdity (Never Bet the Devil Your Head). The first few and the last few didn't really rate with me (there's only so many tales of 'beloved's I can take), but there were some seriously great reads in amongst this volume.
Favourites: The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Masque of the Red Death.
I also have to give Never Bet the Devil Your Head a special mention because it was totally, unexpectedly, messed up. Honestly, I didn't stop laughing about it for a good half hour or so.
Least Favourites: The Imp of the Perverse, Some Words with a Mummy, Ligeia
A lot of the tales you really have to be patient with because Poe spends so much time setting the scene that it can be a little tedious. The power of his stories lies in the atmosphere his words create, and he goes to great lengths to communicate ideas.
He also kills people. A lot.
There are so many psychopaths in this book. The horror is how human he makes them seem. Again, he uses his words to craft characters that we understand, that we feel sympathy for despite the horrible actions they relate. It's masterful storytelling.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter were very reminiscent of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes; however, though entertaining reads, they were both inferior to Conan Doyle's work. It did help to lighten the tone of the book, though, so both presented a refreshing change of pace.
Poe deals a lot in symbolism and hidden meaning, so taken at face value some of these stories can be pretty dull and/or bizarre. For deep thinkers, there'll be a lot of different themes to mull over, like guilt, regret, fear, ambiguity and more.
Highly recommend if you're up for something a little bit different, and the stories are short enough that you can read a few here and there without getting too caught up in the bizarre. Just be prepared for lengthy descriptions and confounding ideas.
November 5, 2020
I have never read soooo many words and understood so little
October 13, 2018
A great collection of Edgar Allen Poe short stories. It totally got me in the spooky mood for October. Poe can be hard to get through sometimes, but I still enjoyed reading it. Poe was a pioneer of horror and psychological thriller, and it shows in his works. Last time I read Poe was in grammar school/high school, so I forgot how good he is at horror. My top 5 stories in this book are:
1. A Tell Tale Heart (obviously)
2. The Pit and the Pendulum
3. Berenice
4. The Black Cat
5. The Assignation (The Visionary)
1. A Tell Tale Heart (obviously)
2. The Pit and the Pendulum
3. Berenice
4. The Black Cat
5. The Assignation (The Visionary)
March 25, 2017
One of the most boring, depressing, and laborious chores I've ever forced myself to complete.
Poe's use of excessive amounts of language spanning multiple paragraphs and sometimes multiple pages when the same can be said in a few sentences makes me sick to my brain.
Maybe I "just don't get it". Or maybe I do and just don't care.
Poe's use of excessive amounts of language spanning multiple paragraphs and sometimes multiple pages when the same can be said in a few sentences makes me sick to my brain.
Maybe I "just don't get it". Or maybe I do and just don't care.
December 26, 2023
The Annotated and Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe edited by M. Grant Kellermeyer consists of twenty stories and fourteen poems with annotations. Also included are short essays before and after each story as well as chiaroscuro illustrations by the editor.
Kellermeyer divides Poe’s stories into four categories of focus:
The Tale of Gender and Metaphysics
The Tale of Existential Adventure
The Tale of Psychological Duplicity
The Revenge Fantasy
I found the detailed annotations extremely helpful for vocabulary definitions, story analysis, and for helping to decipher the meaning of many of the poems. My one criticism is that the annotations were sometimes too detailed. I encountered spoilers two times revealing the endings of stories as I was reading them.
My copy is a third edition with a painting titled The Premature Burial by Antoine Weirtz as the cover, which is not showing up on Goodreads.
My story ratings:
Metzengersten (3/5)
MS. Found in a Bottle (4/5)
The Assignation (4/5)
Berenice (5/5)
Morella (5/5)
Shadow - A Parable (4/5)
Silence - A Fable (4/5)
Ligea (4/5)
The Fall of the House of Usher (5/5)
William Wilson (4/5)
The Man of the Crowd (3/5)
A Descent into the Maelstrom (3/5)
The Oval Portrait (4/5)
The Masque of Red Death (4/5)
The Pit and the Pendulum (5/5)
The Tell-Tale Heart (5/5)
The Black Cat (5/5)
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (5/5)
The Cask of Amontillado (5/5)
Hop-Frog (4/5)
Kellermeyer divides Poe’s stories into four categories of focus:
The Tale of Gender and Metaphysics
The Tale of Existential Adventure
The Tale of Psychological Duplicity
The Revenge Fantasy
I found the detailed annotations extremely helpful for vocabulary definitions, story analysis, and for helping to decipher the meaning of many of the poems. My one criticism is that the annotations were sometimes too detailed. I encountered spoilers two times revealing the endings of stories as I was reading them.
My copy is a third edition with a painting titled The Premature Burial by Antoine Weirtz as the cover, which is not showing up on Goodreads.
My story ratings:
Metzengersten (3/5)
MS. Found in a Bottle (4/5)
The Assignation (4/5)
Berenice (5/5)
Morella (5/5)
Shadow - A Parable (4/5)
Silence - A Fable (4/5)
Ligea (4/5)
The Fall of the House of Usher (5/5)
William Wilson (4/5)
The Man of the Crowd (3/5)
A Descent into the Maelstrom (3/5)
The Oval Portrait (4/5)
The Masque of Red Death (4/5)
The Pit and the Pendulum (5/5)
The Tell-Tale Heart (5/5)
The Black Cat (5/5)
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (5/5)
The Cask of Amontillado (5/5)
Hop-Frog (4/5)
October 20, 2017
To be honest, I expected to like this a lot more than I did. By the end I just wanted the stories to stop. There are 21 stories in this collection and I enjoyed maybe half. Poe is very flowery. I think, in the future, if I look for more of his work I won't devour almost two dozen stories in three days. Poe might be a one story here and there kind of guy for me.
July 26, 2020
Excelente selección de cuentos del gran Poe. Mis favoritos fueron el Gato Negro, Berenice y Eleonora.
September 18, 2025
Started and finished date - 13.09.25 to 16.09.25.
My rating - Four Stars.
I really enjoyed is book and I would really like one of stories in this book to become a movie or TV show also it got me in the spooky mood for October. I think people who like the Lovecraft compendium by H.P. Lovecraft or eldritch tales by Les Edwards may like is book. The writing was well done, and the writing was easy to follow also the ending was great. The atmosphere was well written. The paced in most stories was well structured and steady paced. The characters was okay but they needed to flash out bit more.
My rating - Four Stars.
I really enjoyed is book and I would really like one of stories in this book to become a movie or TV show also it got me in the spooky mood for October. I think people who like the Lovecraft compendium by H.P. Lovecraft or eldritch tales by Les Edwards may like is book. The writing was well done, and the writing was easy to follow also the ending was great. The atmosphere was well written. The paced in most stories was well structured and steady paced. The characters was okay but they needed to flash out bit more.
May 16, 2019
I finally got around to reading Poe. I felt somehow obligated because he's one of the most famous classic authors of America. Now that I'm no longer a student, I find myself reading fewer classics...maybe due to a deficiency in motivation or attention span?
I have two complaints about this edition. The first I can blame on the publisher. Poe has a tendency to throw in Latin, French, and Greek words (especially using passages as epigraphs), and no translation is provided. This is infuriating because a contemporary audience probably isn't well-versed in these languages and the onus shouldn't be on the reader to figure out what the text is saying.
My second complaint is that I'm really not interested in Poe's writing. I can respect the fact that he is one of the progenitors of the horror genre, but, other than that, there is nothing admirable in his work. It is long-winded and repetitive. The stories may have a kernel of a good idea or a worthy theme, but they are a chore to read. The writing is usually bogged down with pointless description. Poe is weak at writing characters and worse at writing dialogue (there are times that the dialogue is so bad that I laughed). The plots advance at a snail's pace. I suppose this is supposed to be "suspenseful" but it is simply boring. There isn't much variety in the stories in this collection...there are so, so many instances of people being buried alive or returning from the dead.
I am not sure whether I am glad that I read this book. I guess it adds a little bit to my literary "street cred," but honestly the stories are so forgettable that I may as well have not read them in the first place.
I have two complaints about this edition. The first I can blame on the publisher. Poe has a tendency to throw in Latin, French, and Greek words (especially using passages as epigraphs), and no translation is provided. This is infuriating because a contemporary audience probably isn't well-versed in these languages and the onus shouldn't be on the reader to figure out what the text is saying.
My second complaint is that I'm really not interested in Poe's writing. I can respect the fact that he is one of the progenitors of the horror genre, but, other than that, there is nothing admirable in his work. It is long-winded and repetitive. The stories may have a kernel of a good idea or a worthy theme, but they are a chore to read. The writing is usually bogged down with pointless description. Poe is weak at writing characters and worse at writing dialogue (there are times that the dialogue is so bad that I laughed). The plots advance at a snail's pace. I suppose this is supposed to be "suspenseful" but it is simply boring. There isn't much variety in the stories in this collection...there are so, so many instances of people being buried alive or returning from the dead.
I am not sure whether I am glad that I read this book. I guess it adds a little bit to my literary "street cred," but honestly the stories are so forgettable that I may as well have not read them in the first place.
Read
October 25, 2023This was a really interesting experience. I expected to like Poe’s work more than I did. A big issue for me were the frequent rambly introductions to the stories, before the actual plot begins. One of the stories - The Mystery of Marie Roget - was a literal snooze fest and I couldn’t get through it without taking a nap. It was also curious to see which stories were included and which weren’t. For example, The Purloined Letter, part of a series with Marie Roget & Murders in the Rue Morgue, was not included. The Colloquy of Monos and Una was included but not the other two which seem to make a trilogy with it.
That said, several were excellent stories and worthy of their fame.
That said, several were excellent stories and worthy of their fame.
October 10, 2025
Jeg kunne umiddelbart efter en gennemlæsning af historierne lide 6 ud af 26, og så er der måske 4, som havde noget interessant over sig. Så det er ikke helt noget at råbe hurra for. Der er nok egentlig flere gode og uhyggelige historier, men mit problem er bare at de drukner i en skrivestil og et sprog, som jeg bare ikke kan fordybe mig i. Min hjerne optager det bare ikke rigtig. Sjældent har 297 sider føltes så langsommelig, og jeg fik ikke den spooky halloween stemning, som jeg håbede på.
November 12, 2025
This collection could’ve done with some scholarship and some more of the detective stories, but overall an excellent beginning to Poe. I think the thing about him as an author is that his highs are historical and his lows are very, very low. Some of the more famous short stories are as monumental S they are in the Canon because they are simply thst good. The ones you haven’t heard of? They’re…probably not on par. But I truly enjoyed getting to reread so many favorites and discover a lot of new stories by one of my favorites.
October 28, 2023
3 stars
Really loved - The Fall of the House of Usher, William Wilson, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, A Descent into the Maelström, Never Bet the Devil Your Head, The Masque of Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Black Cat and The Premature Burial
all of the others were pretty okay
Really loved - The Fall of the House of Usher, William Wilson, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, A Descent into the Maelström, Never Bet the Devil Your Head, The Masque of Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Black Cat and The Premature Burial
all of the others were pretty okay
August 7, 2017
It's been a long time since I've read any Poe stories, and I'm sure I've never enjoyed them more. They're dense and erudite, but not too archaic, and the abyssal depths of despair and madness, explored here with vigor, are as compelling now as ever. Not all of the stories are masterpieces, but I'd list Ligeia, Masque of the Red Death, and The Pit and the Pendulum as favorites. The Imp of the Perverse deserves special mention for its amazing title, and for artfully describing Freud's "Death Drive" in 1845.
January 27, 2022
I was really excited to get into it but honestly some of the stories at the beginning dragged on and the language was really hard to follow. Drink for every time you read the word “epoch”! The only short stories I really enjoyed were The Fall Of The House of Usher, Tell-Tale Heart, Black Cat and Hop-Frog. Other than those, the rest are not too memorable. Still glad I read it, though! But I don’t think I’ll re-read this anytime soon
October 11, 2018
a horror story with a happy ending? shouldn't exist my friend
Read
November 3, 2022I’m sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy this book at all.
November 22, 2023
• "Oh, horror upon horror!"
• "How is it that from beauty I have derived a type of unloveliness? —from the covenant of peace a
simile of sorrow? But as, in ethics, evil is a consequence of good, so, in fact, out of joy is
sorrow born. Either the memory of past bliss is the anguish of to-day, or the agonies
which are have their origin in the ecstasies which might have been."
• "We are surely doomed to hover continually upon the brink of eternity without taking a final plunge into the abyss."
• "I am come of a race noted for vigor of fancy and ardor of passion. Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence - whether much that is glorious - whether all that is profound - does not spring from disease of thought - from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect. They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."
• "How is it that from beauty I have derived a type of unloveliness? —from the covenant of peace a
simile of sorrow? But as, in ethics, evil is a consequence of good, so, in fact, out of joy is
sorrow born. Either the memory of past bliss is the anguish of to-day, or the agonies
which are have their origin in the ecstasies which might have been."
• "We are surely doomed to hover continually upon the brink of eternity without taking a final plunge into the abyss."
• "I am come of a race noted for vigor of fancy and ardor of passion. Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence - whether much that is glorious - whether all that is profound - does not spring from disease of thought - from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect. They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."
September 18, 2025
I liked some stories better than others. It's always hard to rate a book with numerous stories because they are all so different.
May 16, 2024
So many fancy words…
October 31, 2017
his collection of twenty six tales of horror range from the macabre to the terrifying and all carry the characteristic trademark of Edgar Allan Poe doing what he does best, that is to entertain and disturb in equal measure.
It took me a little while to read this edition as the font is quite small and needs some concentration, however, what always comes across is the skillful level of writing, and whilst some of the stories didn't appeal, others most certainly did and left me with a feeling of disquiet for quite a while afterwards. Of course, the first story I turned to was that of The Black Cat, a clever little story which left me with a real feeling of unease and caused me to look at Jaffa with more than a hint of suspicion. There's also the classic short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, which was first published in 1839 and remains just as pertinent today as it did back then. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, published in 1841, is thought to be the first modern detective story. Poe's detective C. August Dupin is probably the blueprint from which other authors took their inspiration in the portrayal of what we now consider to be the classic detective.
My feeling is that this is one of those anthologies which you can easily dip into and out of at whim, and once you get used to Poe's style of writing and his way of accentuating the oddness and the morbidness of the human spirit, then the appeal of these classic horror stories is strong as ever.
It took me a little while to read this edition as the font is quite small and needs some concentration, however, what always comes across is the skillful level of writing, and whilst some of the stories didn't appeal, others most certainly did and left me with a feeling of disquiet for quite a while afterwards. Of course, the first story I turned to was that of The Black Cat, a clever little story which left me with a real feeling of unease and caused me to look at Jaffa with more than a hint of suspicion. There's also the classic short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, which was first published in 1839 and remains just as pertinent today as it did back then. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, published in 1841, is thought to be the first modern detective story. Poe's detective C. August Dupin is probably the blueprint from which other authors took their inspiration in the portrayal of what we now consider to be the classic detective.
My feeling is that this is one of those anthologies which you can easily dip into and out of at whim, and once you get used to Poe's style of writing and his way of accentuating the oddness and the morbidness of the human spirit, then the appeal of these classic horror stories is strong as ever.
October 10, 2024
This was a mixed bag of short stories; most were good - excellent, actually - and then there were some that fell a little short for me. Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of creepy, gothic, and sometimes bizarre tales. Out of the 20 featured in this edition, I gave a total of twelve 5 stars, so most of them were a delight to read... well, 'delight' may be the wrong word, as the contents of these stories are far from 'delightful'. This is a collection I was hoping to love wholly, so when I got to some stories that didn't amaze me, I can't lie, I was disappointed. That being said, once I'd reached the end of the final story, I was so glad that I'd picked this book up.
This is an author I have always wanted to read more of, especially being a fan of short stories - short horror stories to be exact. I read The Raven in school some years ago and loved it immensely, so I've always been eager to explore more of his works. Edgar Allen Poe is known as the originator of modern horror and short stories, and based on a majority of the stories in this collection, I can see why! As always with books from this time in history, the writing-style is so stunning! Even the few stories in this collection that weren't really enjoyable for me were so beautifully written.
I love how each one was different from the last, yet they all ran along the same macabre vein. Madness was a recurring theme throughout this collection; I can't think of one that didn't touch on it in some way. There were several stories in here that left me feeling genuinely chilled, and there were some that shocked me in their ghastliness. I can say quite confidently that this isn't a collection one should pick up if their looking for a pleasant, light-hearted, easy read. A lot of the topics broached within these stories are grisly, and all of them are dark in some way.
It's hard for me to pick a favourite out of the 20 stories in this collection. Many of them were excellent reads that had me hooked and horrified. They were just the thing I was looking for this spooky season! Some of my favourites were Berenice , William Wilson , The Pit and the Pendulum , The Tell-Tale Heart , The Black Cat , and The Premature Burial . All were so incredibly different from one another, but they all provided that same sense of insanity and helplessness that comes across as truly terrifying.
Here are my individual ratings for the stories included:
1. Metzengerstein - 3.5 stars
2. The Assignation (The Visionary) - 2 stars
3. Berenice - 5 stars
4. Morella - 4 stars
5: King Pest - 3.5 stars
6. Shadow: a parable - 2 stars
7. Legeia - 5 stars
8. The Fall of the House of Usher - 5 stars
9. William Wilson - 5 stars
10. The Man of the Crowd - 3 stars
11. The Oval Portrait - 5 stars
12. The Masque of the Red Death - 5 stars
13. The Pit and the Pendulum - 5 stars
14. The Tell-Tale Heart - 5 stars
15. The Black Cat - 5 stars
16. The Premature Burial - 5 stars
17. The Oblong Box - 5 stars
18. The Imp of the Perverse - 2 stars
19. The Cask of Amontillado - 4 stars
20. Hop Frog - 5 stars
This is an author I have always wanted to read more of, especially being a fan of short stories - short horror stories to be exact. I read The Raven in school some years ago and loved it immensely, so I've always been eager to explore more of his works. Edgar Allen Poe is known as the originator of modern horror and short stories, and based on a majority of the stories in this collection, I can see why! As always with books from this time in history, the writing-style is so stunning! Even the few stories in this collection that weren't really enjoyable for me were so beautifully written.
I love how each one was different from the last, yet they all ran along the same macabre vein. Madness was a recurring theme throughout this collection; I can't think of one that didn't touch on it in some way. There were several stories in here that left me feeling genuinely chilled, and there were some that shocked me in their ghastliness. I can say quite confidently that this isn't a collection one should pick up if their looking for a pleasant, light-hearted, easy read. A lot of the topics broached within these stories are grisly, and all of them are dark in some way.
It's hard for me to pick a favourite out of the 20 stories in this collection. Many of them were excellent reads that had me hooked and horrified. They were just the thing I was looking for this spooky season! Some of my favourites were Berenice , William Wilson , The Pit and the Pendulum , The Tell-Tale Heart , The Black Cat , and The Premature Burial . All were so incredibly different from one another, but they all provided that same sense of insanity and helplessness that comes across as truly terrifying.
Here are my individual ratings for the stories included:
1. Metzengerstein - 3.5 stars
2. The Assignation (The Visionary) - 2 stars
3. Berenice - 5 stars
4. Morella - 4 stars
5: King Pest - 3.5 stars
6. Shadow: a parable - 2 stars
7. Legeia - 5 stars
8. The Fall of the House of Usher - 5 stars
9. William Wilson - 5 stars
10. The Man of the Crowd - 3 stars
11. The Oval Portrait - 5 stars
12. The Masque of the Red Death - 5 stars
13. The Pit and the Pendulum - 5 stars
14. The Tell-Tale Heart - 5 stars
15. The Black Cat - 5 stars
16. The Premature Burial - 5 stars
17. The Oblong Box - 5 stars
18. The Imp of the Perverse - 2 stars
19. The Cask of Amontillado - 4 stars
20. Hop Frog - 5 stars
October 27, 2020
Now that I'm somewhat more mature than I was in middle school (and less adverse to to the spooky and macabre), I'd hoped to discover some sort of love for Poe in this collection of short stories. Unfortunately, I found myself in a month-long reading slump because reading this book made me so tired. It almost seems like there was a cultural disconnect. I'd reach the end of each story and found that no matter how many summaries or how much reflection I did, I just didn't "get" it. There were a lot of things sprinkled in that seemed to be references to...something, but after 170 years, the context has changed and they no longer resonate. I'm pretty bummed at myself. At least now I know I genuinely don't like Poe's style and that it's not some weird pseudo-purity-police thing I had going on when I read him in school.
October 27, 2024
Perfect October read! Introduced me to a few Poe stories I hadn’t yet read (Berenice is a standout!— loved the symbolism of the teeth and the narrator’s descent from admiration to obsession) and refreshed my memory on classics such as The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Cask of Amontillado. Poe’s themes of death, insanity, obsession, and degradation achieve resonance not in his imagery of the eerie and grotesque (which are commendable) but in his ability to probe into the darker recesses of the human psyche— here, horror ascends the realm of the supernatural to the much more powerful, insidious realm of the psychological.
“How is it that from beauty I have derived a type of unloveliness?”
��I felt that their possession could alone ever restore me to peace, in giving me back to reason.”
“How is it that from beauty I have derived a type of unloveliness?”
��I felt that their possession could alone ever restore me to peace, in giving me back to reason.”
March 18, 2017
I find Gothic horror hard to be weirded out by due to its superfluous language
October 31, 2023
3.5, fun October read. Some are classics I'll never forget, others...meh. Started with stories relevant to The Fall of the House of Usher before I watched the series - including a couple not included in this collection: The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Gold-Bug (DNF'd Gold Bug, was my least favorite).
For my own memory, a quick line about each:
For my own memory, a quick line about each:
December 14, 2025
I've been reading this collection slowly over the last few months.
It started slow and I thought I was in for a long one, but it definitely picked up and there was a few good ones in here. However, this classic style of descriptive writing is a challenge for me, as I really live off of dialogue and actions.
However, these stories are worth noting (starting with my favourite):
1. The Pit and The Pendulum - By far the best in this collection. You can see similarities to what Clive Barker writes in this one. Great!
2. The Black Cat - Excellent as well and I was quite intrigued.
3. Tell-Tale Heart - A classic that needs no introduction. Love the premise, quite short though, but paints a picture in your mind.
4. Hop-Frog - The final story and one that 'hopped' along nicely with a nice payoff.
5. The Oblong Box - Had no idea where this was headed and was drawn in quickly.
6. The Fall of the House of Usher - I read a story based on this short story recently by T. Kingfisher. As I said above, I'm craving more dialogue/action through most of these and this was just too short, but good.
7. King Pest - This is when the collection really started to improve. This was a good premise and a nice telling.
8. The Man of the Crowd - An obscure one that included a bit of action throughout.
9. The Oval Portrait - Loved the simple telling as well as the twist!
Overall, it was good to take a trip back in time to read these legendary stories. Worth the read for sure.
It started slow and I thought I was in for a long one, but it definitely picked up and there was a few good ones in here. However, this classic style of descriptive writing is a challenge for me, as I really live off of dialogue and actions.
However, these stories are worth noting (starting with my favourite):
1. The Pit and The Pendulum - By far the best in this collection. You can see similarities to what Clive Barker writes in this one. Great!
2. The Black Cat - Excellent as well and I was quite intrigued.
3. Tell-Tale Heart - A classic that needs no introduction. Love the premise, quite short though, but paints a picture in your mind.
4. Hop-Frog - The final story and one that 'hopped' along nicely with a nice payoff.
5. The Oblong Box - Had no idea where this was headed and was drawn in quickly.
6. The Fall of the House of Usher - I read a story based on this short story recently by T. Kingfisher. As I said above, I'm craving more dialogue/action through most of these and this was just too short, but good.
7. King Pest - This is when the collection really started to improve. This was a good premise and a nice telling.
8. The Man of the Crowd - An obscure one that included a bit of action throughout.
9. The Oval Portrait - Loved the simple telling as well as the twist!
Overall, it was good to take a trip back in time to read these legendary stories. Worth the read for sure.
June 6, 2020
It only took me 379 days to read this damn book, but I did it.
The qualifier here is that I actually just stopped reading it for several months at a time, multiple times. This isn't because it's bad (I actually really enjoyed it), it's just dense and there were often other things I wanted to read instead. Also, the prose itself is so entrancing that it made me sleepy every time I read it.
That being said, I love EAP. I don't think I'd ever read anything of his that wasn't The Tell-Tale Heart or The Raven before this, but most of the collected stories herein were really enjoyable. The only exceptions that immediately come to mind are A Descent into the Maelstrom and A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, both of which were kind of just boring.
The rest of the collection is pretty brilliant. Favourite horror stories include:
- The Masque of the Red Death
- The Pit and the Pendulum
And my favourite satirical story is definitely The Devil in the Belfry which I think I have retold about 80 times to my friends, because it is so surreal that it's HILARIOUS. Never has a short story made me cry from laughter so much!
This is a nifty little collection that's definitely worth picking up if you're looking for a diverse introduction to the works of EAP!
The qualifier here is that I actually just stopped reading it for several months at a time, multiple times. This isn't because it's bad (I actually really enjoyed it), it's just dense and there were often other things I wanted to read instead. Also, the prose itself is so entrancing that it made me sleepy every time I read it.
That being said, I love EAP. I don't think I'd ever read anything of his that wasn't The Tell-Tale Heart or The Raven before this, but most of the collected stories herein were really enjoyable. The only exceptions that immediately come to mind are A Descent into the Maelstrom and A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, both of which were kind of just boring.
The rest of the collection is pretty brilliant. Favourite horror stories include:
- The Masque of the Red Death
- The Pit and the Pendulum
And my favourite satirical story is definitely The Devil in the Belfry which I think I have retold about 80 times to my friends, because it is so surreal that it's HILARIOUS. Never has a short story made me cry from laughter so much!
This is a nifty little collection that's definitely worth picking up if you're looking for a diverse introduction to the works of EAP!
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July 6, 2024I make it 14 years since I brought a collection of Poe with me to read on a family holiday but ended up reading Salem's Lot instead. No matter, after last week's trip abroad I have finally closed the loop on Edgar in the sand.
A good collection of short stories that it is easy to imagine striking absolute terror into the hearts of contemporary readers, and whilst time has dulled our senses to what is and is not scary I think the nastiness of these stories stands up over 150 years on. Easy to see the groundwork for later writers (in particular, Lovecraft) being laid here, and you really do have to hand it to the man for writing stories in which the unspeakable is done to stand-ins for his real-world enemies (or anyone who he held a mild grievance against, really) - it is our loss that Poe lived in a time before Twitter because he would have been electric on the iPad. A man can only dream...
A good collection of short stories that it is easy to imagine striking absolute terror into the hearts of contemporary readers, and whilst time has dulled our senses to what is and is not scary I think the nastiness of these stories stands up over 150 years on. Easy to see the groundwork for later writers (in particular, Lovecraft) being laid here, and you really do have to hand it to the man for writing stories in which the unspeakable is done to stand-ins for his real-world enemies (or anyone who he held a mild grievance against, really) - it is our loss that Poe lived in a time before Twitter because he would have been electric on the iPad. A man can only dream...
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