Favorite Short Story Writer: Edgar Allan Poe

Anyone who loves horror fiction surely knows the name Edgar Allan Poe. His name is almost synonymous with tales of terror, murder, and the supernatural. Though choosing a favorite author is a difficult task, I can definitely say that Poe is at the top of my list.

A Life of Difficulty

According to PoeStories.com: A Short Biography of Edgar Allan Poe, Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His parents were David and Elizabeth Poe; Edgar was one of three children, the other two being Henry and Rosalie. In 1811, when Edgar was only two years old, his mother died. At that time, he was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan, while his brother and sister went to live with his grandparents and another adoptive family, respectively.

At age 6, Poe moved to England to attend school for five years. Later, after returning to America, he continued his studies, and when he reached age 17, enrolled at the University of Virginia. Despite excelling in Latin and French, Poe fell into debt due to his adoptive father only sending him a fraction of the money he needed for his tuition. Around this time, he gradually became a heavy drinker. He later went to Boston and, in 1827, joined the U.S. Army. He continued to struggle with depression throughout this period, even with his successes during military training.

In 1831, after leaving the Army, Poe moved to New York City, where finally some of his poetry was published; he had far less luck publishing his short stories, however. Compounding his misfortunes, he had no money, no job, and a considerable amount of debt. Finally, in 1835, Poe began a job as a newspaper editor, as a result of winning a contest with his short story, "The Manuscript Found in a Bottle." In 1836, he married his cousin, Virginia, who was 13 (Poe was 27).

Throughout his life, despite publishing some of his short stories, Poe continued to encounter financial and emotional conflict, which seemed to contribute a great deal to the dark subject matter of his writing. In 1838, he moved to Philadelphia, contributing work to many magazines, according to Poe Museum: Who is Edgar Allan Poe? His first collection of short stories, entitled Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, was published in 1839. Though he received a copyright and 20 copies of the book, he still was unpaid for the publication.

Seeking a fresh start, Poe once again moved to New York and, in a quintessential publicity stunt, made a name for himself through a public hoax. He had written a so-called "news story" about his "balloon trip across the ocean" to reach New York which, as he had hoped, caused a great stir and attracted a great many readers. Of course, in the end, Poe revealed that it had all been a mere joke; see any relation to today's media?

It was in January 1845 that Poe published his now-famous "The Raven," and finally achieved a degree of renown. As such, he began to attract large audiences to his lectures, and also insisted on better compensation for his work. That year, he published two books, and for a short time, lived his lifelong dream of being in charge of his own magazine (the Broadway Journal, which he purchased from the original owners). Unfortunately, Poe's successes were short-lived; the Journal eventually went out of print, his wife was in poor health, and rumors had circulated about him having an affair with a married woman. This series of hardships led to his mental decline, and in the end, he left New York. Poe spent his final days in Washington College Hospital, after being discovered in the bar room of a public house that, at the time, was in use as a polling place for an election. He died on October 7, 1849 at the age of forty; yet to this day, his exact cause of death is unknown.

Write What You Know?

Considering the life of catastrophe, tragedy, and disappointment that Poe led, it should come as no surprise that much of his writing is incredibly dark (and famously so). Among his most famous works, of course, are such poems as "The Raven," mentioned above, "Annabel Lee," and "The City in the Sea." In that same vein, many of his short stories, such as "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Pit and the Pendulum," and "The Tell-Tale Heart" concern such themes as madness, revenge, insanity, and of course death.

So, you might ask, why do I enjoy him so much? Personally, I've always been drawn to the dark side of things, as well as the supernatural and stories of mental instability. While I know that in "real life," many of the stories of the supernatural that are retold during Halloween and Dia de los Muertos in Mexico are thought to be urban legends, I take some comfort in the fact that some of them, at least, have a basis in fact.

Even if such stories as "The Cask of Amontillado" are entirely fictional, Poe paints them in such exquisite, horrifying detail that they begin to seem like actual events. Along those same lines, his characters, especially when speaking in first-person, are so skillfully crafted that no matter how demented their statements, you almost start to believe them.

Take, for instance, the narrator in "The Tell-Tale Heart"; clearly, from his statements and actions ("I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film over it"), you can tell that he's mentally unbalanced. Yet, as with all of Poe's best stories, this one ensnares you in its warped point-of-view, not unlike the twisted experiences of a hallucinogenic trip. While we may be, for the most part, rational in day-to-day life, reading such stories can be an excellent form of escape, and even, in a way, therapeutic.

Just as you might watch horror films for the thrill of being frightened, disturbed, or simply grossed-out, so might you read Poe's work for the same reasons. His gateway into the macabre is like an alternative to the monotony of "wake up-eat-work-home-sleep." Of course, as with any genre of literature, his words don't appeal to every reader, but they certainly have a following. The fact that they are still widely read in literature classes is a testament to this.

Although I of course didn't know Edgar Allan Poe personally, I also think he'd have something to say about some of the literary censorship that goes on in today's world. Take, for example, the censoring of the "n-word" in new editions of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; according to The Review: Censoring American literature a questionable move, a number of schools have opted not to include the novel in their curriculum due to its "hurtful" and "inappropriate" content.

While it's true that many works of literature, film, and visual art contain shocking or disturbing themes, I feel that's part of the purpose of art. Art makes us think about ourselves, and perhaps that, in a sense, is why some feel the need to censor it; people are afraid to confront the truth about the human race, and some of the atrocities we've committed against one another.

In the fiction and poetry that I write, I tend to express similar themes to those that have made Poe's stories enduring. When I've experienced a death in the family, for instance, I've found that the poetry inspired by the event is some of the best I've written. Why is that? Perhaps it's that the emotions I'm feeling at the time are so intense, I never have to force the words out. On the other hand, if I sit down a try to write a poem just because I should, often very little comes of it.

According to Ball State University - American Poet: Edgar Allan Poe, Poe also may have suffered from bipolar disorder. He repeatedly referred to themes using a "double self," which is an apt metaphor for the mental state of someone with this illness. And, like many artists and authors who may have shared this disorder (such as Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Vincent Van Gogh), Poe was incredibly creative and innovative for his time, though also somewhat unappreciated. This isn't to say that mental illness is necessary to write well, but in a sense, it can create a state of being where an author would see the world from an unusual perspective.

While I don't make an attempt to write exactly like Poe, I've often turned to his work when I need to "express my dark side," so to speak. If you haven't yet had the chance to read much of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tales and poems, I certainly recommend doing a bit of Internet research, or even purchasing a collection of his best works. You may find you'll have a taste for exploring the grisly aspects of life after all.