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Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 to October 7, 1849) American authors, critic, editor. As a writer and critic, Poe established the short story as a true literary form. His "The Raven" (1845) is one of the best-known poems in the English language. His life and work have also had a profound effect on visual and performing arts, as well as on popular culture. Poe virtually created detective fiction with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841). Poe's "Hans Pfaal" was one of the first scientifically serious tales of space flight, and other stories were concerned with science-fictional topics such as time travel, humanity's relationship to the universe, and scientific discoveries. Poe greatly influenced early science fiction authors Jules Verne and H. G. Wells.

Poe remains best known, however, for the macabre atmosphere and sense of terror evoked in his tales of horror. H. P. Lovecraft referred to his own horror fiction as "Poe stories," and often wrote in conscious imitation of the 19th-century author. Poe's mix of the intensely psychological with the gothic, and the rational with literary romanticism created the foundation of modern horror and dark fantasy. The French and English first recognized Poe's genius; his literary reputation in the United States was not fully established until French-influenced writers like Ambrose Bierce and Robert W. Chambers brought reassessment.

Despite popular notions of his life, much concerning Poe remains controversial and unverified. Poe himself stage-managed his public persona to help sell his writings. That his short life had tragic elements is, however, indisputable. Orphaned at the age of three, he was taken in by a prosperous Virginia family, the Allans. He spent part of his youth in England. After briefly attending the University of Virginia, he became estranged from guardian John Allan, left college, and enlisted in the U.S. army. He published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1829) during this period.

Briefly reconciled with Allan, Poe received an appointment to West Point Academy. In 1831, after a final rift from his guardian, he took a dishonorable discharge and moved to Baltimore, where he found work as a reviewer and literary editor. In 1836, he married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. They moved to Philadelphia in 1838. Throughout the late 1830s and early 1840s, Poe wrote much of his best work, including The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym and the stories "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "The Gold Bug."

Poe moved to New York in 1844 and took a number of jobs as a magazine editor. In 1844, Poe received attention and acclaim for his masterful poem "The Raven." But the slight advances in his career during the mid-1840s were countered with setbacks, including the ill-health of his wife.

In January of 1847, his wife died, and Poe returned to Virginia. There he continued to write, producing one of his masterpieces, "Eureka." On his way north to New York in 1849, Poe stopped in Baltimore, where he was found unconscious in a street on October 3. He died four days later.

Joseph Holbrooke, Claude Debussy, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Peter Hammill, Lou Reed, and others have musically interpreted Poe's work. Several musicals and albums have been based on his life or works, and he is referenced in many popular song lyrics, including The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" (1970) and Green Day's "St. Jimmy" (2004). Artists such as Gustave Doré, Édouard Manet, Arthur Rackham, Harry Clarke, and William Heath Robinson executed illustrations for Poe's works, and many artists have gained inspiration from his theories and work. Dramatic and film adaptation are numerous, and references are countless. He has appeared as a fictional character in every medium. A football team has been named for his most famous poem.

Poe stories have been adapted, with varying degrees of faithfulness, for movies and TV many times. Notably, Roger Corman did several in the 1960s, starring Vincent Price and others.

The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, a boutique parfumier specializing in romantic Gothic scents, offered a special-edition collection called A Descent into the Maelstrom, featuring perfumes that pay tribute to Poe with names such as The Premature Burial, The Masque, Montresor, Usher, The Telltale Heart, and The Pit & The Pendulum.

The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore
Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site, Philadelphia, PA
Poe Museum, Richmond, VA
Poe Studies Association
Works of Poe at Gutenberg Project
Edgar Allan Poe at Etexts
Poestories.com: An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe