Selected stories by Edgar Allan Poe

This book includes the selected stories from the American short story writer, Edgar Allan Poe, and were written in the early 19^th century. Allan Poe is known for his mystery and gothic tales. He is also widely regarded as the inventor of detective fiction genre.

This book includes 11 short stories:

1. The Masque of the Red Death – A horrific tale about a masquerade ball conducted by a prince during the period of a fictitious plague called ‘red death’.
2. A Tale of the Ragged Mountains – A mystery related to a person who lives unaged.
3. The Tell-Tale Heart – Horrific tale relating to the murder of an old man with a ‘vulture eye’. A narration from the murderer’s point of view.
4. The Black Cat – One of the most popular stories of Edgar. Events including a pet black cat of the narrator and the murder of his wife.
5. The Premature Burial – Several cases of premature burial.
6. The Purloined Letter – Augustus Duplin is the central character in Allan Poe’s detective works. Purloined Letter is about a stolen letter of importance from a woman of royalty and how Duplin recovers it from a cabinet minister.
7. The Facts in the case of M.Valdemar – The story is about a mesmerist who puts an old man in hypnotic state near the moment of death.
8. The Fall of the House of Usher – A gothic tale about the narrator visiting his old friend’s house and the death of his friend’s sister.
9. The Imp of the Perverse – A tale about a man who kills another to inherit the latter’s wealth, but is tempted by perversion.
10. The Thousand-And-Second-Tale of Scheherazade – Story about the last tale of Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights with her king.
11. Von Kempelen and his Discovery – Story about an alchemist who devises a way to turn lead into gold.

Two more of the famous stories of Poe were read. These were:

1. The Murders in the Rue Morgue – Another detective tale starring Augustus Duplin pertaining to the horrific murder of two women in their house.
2. The Gold Bug – Story about a treasure hunt to find a pirate’s secret wealth by solving a puzzle. Allan Poe was interested in cryptography and this story corroborates his keen interest and knowledge in the topic.

The best ones from the lot are The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Gold Bug, The Black Cat, The Purloined Letter and The Fall of the House of Usher.