First published in a 1842 edition of Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine, The Masque of the Red Death tells the story of Prince Prospero as he tries to avoid a plague by confining himself and his nobles to a masquerade in an abbey. Often considered a gothic allegory, the story reflects on not only life and death but also the illusion of control.

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe Volume 4 Edgar Allan Poe - This vintage book contains the fourth volume of "The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe". Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American author, editor, poet, and critic. Most famous for his stories of mystery and horror, he was one of the first American short story writers, and is widely considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre. The tales contained within this volume include:...

First published in a 1841 edition of Graham's Magazine, The Murders in the Rue Morgue is often cited as the first modern detective story. The first of three stories to center around C. Auguste Dupin, Poe's fictional detective, The Murders in the Rue Morgue involves Dupin's investigation of two women's murders. Establishing many of the tropes that would later become common to detective fiction, the story begins with an explanation of Dupin's theory...

First published in a 1842 literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843, The Pit and the Pendulum takes place during the Spanish Inquisition and follows the plight of a prisoner in a cell that has a pit and a pendulum. Unlike many of Poe's short stories, The Pit and the Pendulum does not rely on any supernatural elements to inspire fear but instead uses the narrator's heightened sensory experiences to do so.

The unnamed narrator describes the qualities of Ligeia, a beautiful, passionate and intellectual woman, raven-haired and dark-eyed, that he thinks he remembers meeting "in some large, old decaying city near the Rhine." He is unable to recall anything about the history of Ligeia, including her family's name, but remembers her beautiful appearance. Her beauty, however, is not conventional. He describes her as emaciated, with some "strangeness." He describes...

First published in a 1844 literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1845, The Purloined Letter is the third and final story that features Poe's detective, C. Auguste Dupin. In it, Dupin is approached by the prefect of the police to help with a case that involves a stolen letter containing compromising information.

Inspired by an account in The Broadway Journal of a surgeon putting a patient into an magnetic sleep, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar is a suspenseful tale concerning the forestallment of death by hypnosis. Originally published without a clear indication of its fictionality, the story was assumed to be a true account by some of its original readers.

Ein Alptraum wird war…lebendig begraben zu werden. Edgar Allan Poe beschreibt einige gruselige Fallbeispiele.

Leonie und Poe mieten ein kleines Landhaus und möchten nach ihrer Rückkehr nach Amerika schnellstmöglich heiraten. Doch schon bald offenbart das Landhaus ein düsteres Geheimnis und der seltsame Vermieter Mr.Landor gesteht, dass auf dem Haus ein alter Fluch lastet. Doch auch Leonie Goron hat einiges vor ihrem Geliebten Poe verheimlicht wie zum Beispiel ihren wahren Namen...

Der Ich-Erzähler versucht zu beweisen, dass er nicht wahnsinnig sei. Offenbar steht er unter dem Verdacht eben dies zu sein; ob er  bereits in einer Irrenanstalt verbracht worden ist, bleibt offen; vielleicht sitzt er auch noch in  Untersuchungshaft. Er hat einen alten Mann getötet, aber nicht aus Hass oder aus Besitzgier, wie er behauptet sondern Auslöser des Verbrechens sei ausschließlich eine physische Besonderheit des Alten gewesen...