Allan Edgar: 1706 books

Republished in a form suitable for students and general readers alike.

In French. Both collections of Poe short stories translated to French by the great poet Charles Baudelaire. Poe's reputation in France is far greater than in America, due in large part to the quality of this translation.

In an isolated town called Vondervotteimittis (wonder-what-time-it-is), the punctilious inhabitants seem to be concerned with nothing but clocks and cabbage. This methodical, boring and quiet little borough is devastated by the arrival of a devilish figure playing a big fiddle who comes straight down...

Within their refuge from a terrible plague called the Red Death, Prince Prospero and his court hold an opulent masquerade ball. But one uninvited guest means death for everyone. A pioneer of the short story genre, Poe’s stories typically captured themes of the macabre and included elements...

The story surrounds the baffling double murder of Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter in the Rue Morgue, a fictional street in Paris. Newspaper accounts of the murder reveal that the mother's throat is so badly cut that her head is barely attached and the daughter, after being strangled, has been stuffed...

After an unnamed illness, the narrator sits in a coffee shop in London. Fascinated by the crowd outside the window, he considers how isolated people think they are, despite "the very denseness of the company around". He takes time to categorise the different types of people he sees. As evening...

"The Landscape Garden" also published under the title "The Domain of Arnheim" combines the essay form with that of the tale in an effort to improve on nature. Critics have praised the story as a marvellous prose poem that contains a musical element similar to that which Poe attempted to achieve in hie poetry.

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar is about a mesmerist, who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also, to a certain degree, a hoax as it was published without claiming to be fictional, and many at the time of publication...

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.

First published in a 1846 edition of Godey's Lady's Book, The Cask of Amontillado is widely considered to be one of the most perfect short stories ever written. Told by the unreliable narrator Montresor-a man who sought vengeance against his acquaintance for an insult that the reader is not privy to-the story details how Montresor accomplished his revenge.

First published in a 1843 edition of The Saturday Evening Post, The Black Cat tells the story of a man and his increasingly antagonistic relationship with his cat. Akin to The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat investigates the psychological effects of guilt as well as the potentially destructive and violent consequences of alcoholism.

DURING the fall of the year 1827, while residing near Charlottesville, Virginia, I casually made the acquaintance of Mr. Augustus Bedloe. This young gentleman was remarkable in every respect, and excited in me a profound interest and curiosity. I found it impossible to comprehend him either in his...

Set in late November 1827, the tale is begun by an unidentified narrator whose story is the loose outer frame for the central tale of Augustus Bedloe, a wealthy young invalid whom the narrator has known "casually" for eighteen years yet who still remains an enigma. Because of ongoing problems...

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.