The Fall of the House of Usher & Other Writings is a collection that displays the full force of Edgar Allen Poe's mastery of both Gothic horror & the short story form This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction & notes by David Galloway This selection of Poe's critical writings short fiction & poetry demonstrates his intense interest in aesthetic issues & the astonishing power & imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind ' The Fall of the House of Usher' is a slow-burning Gothic horror describing the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy & the legacy of the past In ' The Tell-Tale Heart' a murderer's insane delusions threaten to betray him while stories such as ' The Pit & the Pendulum' ' The Raven' & ' The Cask of Amontillado' explore extreme states of decadence fear & hate In his introduction David Galloway re-examines the myths surrounding Poe's life & reputation This edition
Includes:: a new chronology & suggestions for further reading Although dissipated in his youth & plagued by mental instability towards the end of his life Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) had a variety of occupations including service in the US army & magazine editor as well as his remarkable literary output If you enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher you might like Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto also available in Penguin Classics' The most original genius that America has produced' Alfred Lord Tennyson' Poe has entered our popular consciousness as no other American writer' The New York Times Book Review