A master of the ‘horror’ genre, Edgar Allan Poe is America’s own contributor to this fabled, 19^th century mode of storytelling. As varied and brilliant as his literary output, were his eccentric personality and mysterious death, further contributing to the lore surrounding his writings.

Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his grotesque characters and macabre plot-twists, though would seem capable of offering readers only a very specific form of literary experience—dark, brooding, atmospheric. What is striking about Poe’s work when taken as a whole, is found in its variety. Poe was a writer of short stories, a poet, novelist, essayist, and editor. He wrote across a range of genres, including detective fiction, political allegory, romance, science fiction, and horror. In his spare time, he staged elaborate newspaper hoaxes. This course is an experience in appreciating Poe’s eclectic literary output by reading his best known works.