Read moreĬontents of “The Best of Edgar Allan Poe” audiobook edition, narrated by Edward Blake (Listening Library, Random House Audio):The Tell-Tale HeartThe Cask of AmontilladoThe Masque of the Red DeathThe RavenAnnabel LeeThe Facts in the Case of M. I look forward to reading more of the work you dared the ire of the critics to write. Edward Blake does a good job reading the stories and poems, and you'd probably enjoy his performance. I felt rather cheated that it was so short. They say you helped pioneer the modern detective story for that alone, we owe you.This five-disc audiobook is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your literary output, I know. Some of your mysteries are more puzzles than anything else I love the one about the stolen document hidden in plain sight, and the astonishing pirates' treasure concealed along the Carolina coast. The premeditated murders are chilling the tortures of the Inquisition, horrifying the rhythms of your poems, haunting. Fascinating how you return to the themes of madness and murder, how the murderers who narrate their stories are so confident in their skill in hiding the body but in the end, it's their conscience that betrays them.

You just had an eye for the darker side of things, and developed it so others could see that side too. You didn't have a 'diseased intellect,' as your early critics claimed. I read several of your stories and poems in high school, and am now rediscovering your genius. Your atmospheric prose is poetic and perfect, and you share your strange view of the world effortlessly with your readers. The influence of Poe’s writing cannot be overstated, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once wrote, in his short stories there “is a root from which a whole literature has developed.” This collection includes twenty-eight of Poe’s best tales, an introduction by Edmund Clarence Stedman, a biographical afterword, and is illustrated by Harry Clarke. The emotional tone of fear and trepidation evoked in Poe’s work has often been imitated but seldom duplicated. Also included in this collection is “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” considered one of the world’s first detective stories, which concerns the curious circumstances surrounding a double homicide in France. One of Poe’s most famous stories, it is a masterpiece of Gothic literature. Her death drives him to the point of madness as their fragile mansion falls along with the Usher family line. Included in this collection is “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the story of a man and his sister who suffer from a strange, debilitating illness. Some of the most popular horror and mystery stories of all time are collected together here in “The Best Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe.” A master of the macabre, Poe exhibits his literary prowess in these chilling and classic tales.

Harry clarke edgar allan poe