Book cover for Classic Works of Horror: Haunting Poems and Tales from the Master of the Macabre by Edgar Allan Poe

Classic Works of Horror

Haunting Poems and Tales from the Master of the Macabre

2025 Released
368 Pages
6-7 Hours
Audiobook Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Harper PerennialISBN 9780063492714

The classic poems and spine-tingling stories of a Gothic American master collected in one volume

Of all the American masters, Edgar Allan Poe staked out perhaps the most unique and vivid reputation, as a master of the macabre. Even today, in the age of horror movies and high-tech haunted houses, Poe is the first choice of entertainment for many who want a spine-chilling thrill.

Born in Boston in 1809, and dead at the age of 40, Poe wrote across several fields during his life, noted for his poetry and short stories as well as his criticism. The best of each of these is collected here, including the classic poem “The Raven,” and timeless stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart.” In his introduction to this volume, G. R. Thompson argues that Poe was a great satirist and comedic craftsman, as well as a formidable Gothic writer. “All of Poe’s fiction,” Thompson writes, “and the poems as well, can be seen as one coherent piece—as the work of one of the greatest ironists of world literature.”

The Great Short Works of Edgar Allen Poe includes these classics:

  • The Raven
  • Annabel Lee
  • The Murders in the Rue Morgue
  • The Masque of the Red Death
  • The Pit and the Pendulum
  • The Tell-Tale Heart
  • The Purloined Letter
  • The Imp of the Perverse

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809. His parents, both touring actors, died before he was three. He was raised by John Allan, a prosperous Virginian merchant. Poe published his first volume of poetry while still a teenager. He worked as an editor for magazines in Philadelphia, Richmond and New York, and achieved respect as a literary critic. It was only with the publication of The Raven and other Poems in 1845 that he achieved national fame as a writer. Poe died in mysterious circumstances in 1849.

More by Edgar Allan Poe

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