Fantastic Writers - Edgar Allen Poe

I can’t tell you exactly when I started reading Edgar Allen Poe . Long years, back into my childhood. I can’t tell you why I read Poe, either. He’s stuff seldom if ever touched on monsters and I was a monster boy. All I know is that I loved his stories, and that has never changed.

Going back to his work, I wonder how the hell I finished any of his stuff. I don’t know if it’s all the TV watching I’ve done or the videogames, but it’s an uphill slog to get through most of his stuff these days. I know I finished the stories, but did I understand half of what I read? And why don’t I now?

Modern difficulties aside, I believe that Poe’s influence on the Fantastic and literature in general can not be understated. Any would-be writer would be well served reading his works. He is the master of Effect, and while you might walk away from some of his stories thinking this character or that character was little more than paper thin, you’ll find that with Poe, more often than not, it doesn’t matter.

Here is a small list of some of my favorite Poe stories:

• The Cask of Amontillado - One of the greatest horror stories ever written and one of the best examples of the short story there is. Poe wastes no moment here, and it’s all to the good. I probably shouldn’t reveal this, but every time I think about this story, a small smile creeps onto my face. No doubt that’s wrong of me…
• The Fall of the House of Usher - When I made reference to paper thin characters, I was thinking of this story. You don’t learn much about the narrator or the Ushers, or exactly what is going on. I read one essay suggesting that it’s a vampire story - remember that vampire stories today and vampire stories back then are two different beasts. Another theory, coming from H. P. Lovecraft, suggest that "Roderick Usher, his sister Madeleine, and the house all shared one common soul”, and that when one went they all went. (deCamp 246).
  
  None of this matters.
  
  What matters is the effect of the story, and this is one creepy little tale. It also has in it one of my favorite of Poe’s poems, The Haunted Palace .
• Hop Frog - If this was never a part of “Tales from the Crypt”, “Vault of Horror”, or any of the other EC funny books, it’s a crying shame, for this story of revenge would have fit beautifully. A bit obvious in places, but still an excellent, excellent story.
• The Raven - I suppose you could talk about Poe without mentioning “The Raven”, but I’m not sure why you’d want to. A very powerful piece, and this is from the man who doesn’t care for poetry…

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Small confession here: while I have read the below work, and dimly remember the quote, I do not currently have the book on hand. The page number I cite is second-hand information and may very well be wrong. I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause and, if I learn that it is wrong, I will correct the information as fast as I can.

One other note: I find it amusing that the one book I do cite in this essay is about another author entirely.

de Camp, L Sprague. Lovecraft: A Biography Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1975