Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated and influential writers of the 19th century. His short stories are famous for their dark and macabre themes and suspenseful plots. Also, countless films and television shows used Poe’s stories as inspiration. Many people around the world continue to read and enjoy the Best Short Stories written by this author.
This book collects some of Edgar Allan Poe’s best short stories, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” These stories will thrill and terrify you and stay with you long after reading them.
Poe’s life was often turbulent, but he left behind a literary legacy that generations of readers continue to enjoy. If you prefer well-written, suspenseful stories, you will likely enjoy reading this collection of short stories.
Recommended for: Readers who enjoy classic, suspenseful, and psychologically-driven short stories by one of the masters of the genre, Edgar Allan Poe. This collection is suitable for a wide range of readers, from high school students to adult literature enthusiasts.
You will:
- Delve into Poe’s exploration of the dark recesses of the human mind through tales of madness, obsession, and the macabre.
- Experience the tension and chilling atmosphere of stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
- Unravel the mysteries and strange occurrences that plague the narrator in stories such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Man of the Crowd.”
- Confront the primal fears of being buried alive in “The Premature Burial” and the power of guilt in “The Black Cat.”
- Witness Poe’s masterful use of Gothic elements, unreliable narrators, and twisted plot twists.
- Appreciate the literary legacy of one of the most influential short story writers in the English language.
- Gain insights into the themes of isolation, mortality, and the darker aspects of the human psyche that permeate Poe’s works.
- Challenge your own perceptions and be drawn into the unsettling worlds that Poe so vividly creates.
Contents
The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)
The narrator of this story told it in first person, so the reader can more easily immerse himself in the narrator’s thoughts. But the unnamed narrator claims to be sane, but his actions suggest otherwise.
The story explains how he planned to kill an older man by indicating that he has a haunted blue eye, which is one of the reasons why the older adult must die. Furthermore, the narrator states that he did all his actions prudently and cautiously. And that he carefully observes the older adult’s routine before executing his plan and committing the perfect crime.
After burying the body under the floorboards, the narrator believes he can hear the older man’s heart beating.
The story explores themes of madness, guilt, and punishment, showing human nature’s dark side.
The Cask of Amontillado (1846)
The narrator, Montresor, tells how he seeks revenge on his acquaintance Fortunato for insulting him. So, he invites him to his palace at carnival time. And he takes him to his crypt under the pretext of tasting a rare wine called Amontillado. Once they are downstairs, Montresor uses Fortunato’s drunkenness and curiosity to chain him to a wall.
This story can make us reflect on how human beings have different points of view and argue that an insult is a reason enough to take revenge on someone to the end of causing their death.
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)
The Fall of the House of Usher is a classic example of Gothic fiction; its dark and gloomy setting characterizes it. Also, the story uses supernatural elements and explores themes such as madness, family, and isolation.
On this occasion, the narrator decides to visit the manor house of his childhood friend Roderick Usher after receiving a letter of invitation. Upon arrival, he has the feeling that something decadent permeates the atmosphere. Later, Usher tells him that his family suffers from a disease that affects their minds and senses. He even thinks he lives in a haunted house, so everything happening torments him.
Thus, the narrator tries to support and comfort his friend Roderick as he explores the haunting mansion. But as time passes, tensions rise, the house descends into chaos, and the narrator manages to escape before everything collapses.
The Pit and the Pendulum (1842)
The story begins when the protagonist wakes up in a dungeon without knowing who kidnapped him or where he is. While he checks his surroundings, he discovers a borehole in the middle of the room, which causes him anguish because he fears falling into it. This story takes place during the Spanish Inquisition and touches on themes such as torture, death, and hope.
As the days go by, the narrator begins to have psychological disorders due to the confinement and the fear that being inside a dungeon generates in him. So, he begins to imagine that the room is full of rats scurrying everywhere. Then, French soldiers take him to another place, where he is tied up and subjected to the titular pendulum, a sharp blade suspended above him.
The Masque of the Red Death (1842)
The story narrates the events that occur when Prince Prospero and other nobles take refuge behind the walls of their Abbey to avoid catching a dangerous plague known as the Red Death. The symptoms of this plague are terrible, causing sharp pains, sudden dizziness, and hemorrhages, leading the victim to die in less than half an hour.
Feeling safe and isolated in the Abbey, they organize a masked ball, where guests must wear masks to hide their identity. The ball is extravagant, and the guests dance, drink, and party until dawn.
In the middle of the night, a mysterious figure enters the Abbey. He is dressed in a red robe and wears a mask covering his face. The figure makes his way through the seven rooms of the Abbey, and fear invades all the guests.
In this story, Poe explores the fragility of human life and the inevitable mortality we all must face.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841)
This story is a pioneer in the modern crime genre and introduces the character C. Auguste Dupin. After the murder of Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter in the Rue Morgue, the police are overwhelmed by the baffling crime scene. The story describes Dupin and his partner’s investigation into the brutal murder.
After thoroughly analyzing the evidence and the mystery surrounding the murders, Dupin finds the culprit who entered the apartment and murdered the two women. At first, Dupin’s finding raises doubts, but eventually, the police capture the murderer, who proves Dupin’s theory to be true.
The story concludes with Dupin’s reflections on the nature of crime and the limitations of the human mind.
The Oval Portrait (1842)
It tells the tale of a man wounded on a stormy night who seeks refuge in a ruined castle. As he explores the rooms, he discovers an oval portrait on one of the castle walls. This painting depicts a young woman, but something strange about it captivates the narrator.
Then, as the narrator tries to explore the origin and history of the painting, he finds a book that will explain the tragic story behind the image. The woman depicted in it was the wife of an artist who neglected her during his process and relentless pursuit of perfection as an artist.
The story’s theme invites us to reflect on the power of art and an artist’s obsession to find perfection; it also reflects on love and sacrifice, as the artist neglects his wife in favor of art, which has destructive consequences due to an all-consuming passion.
The Premature Burial (1844)
It is a story in which the narrator expresses his deep fear of being buried alive. So, he tells several real and fictional stories in which people have been buried while still alive.
The descriptions and chilling images show a macabre fascination with death and the terror of being trapped in a coffin while still alive. All these ideas take us, as the reader, on a psychological journey through the narrator’s fear. We can see how this obsession with being buried alive makes the protagonist take precautions by living in constant paranoia.
The Man of the Crowd (1840)
The Man in the Crowd introduces us to an unnamed narrator captivated by a peculiar stranger’s presence in the city’s bustling streets. The stranger likes to observe and is fascinated with what he encounters. Yet, he seeks to distance himself from people and rejects social interaction.
This behavior generates a lot of curiosity in the narrator, leading him to follow him through several neighborhoods trying to decipher the mysteries in his actions. Despite his efforts, he finds no predictable pattern, and the character remains an enigma to the narrator.
The story’s theme explores the isolation a person can have in the middle of a bustling city and the disconnection that can arise among its inhabitants. At the same time, it shows how the narrator begins by being curious about the behavior of a stranger but eventually becomes obsessed with deciphering the mysteries surrounding others.
The Black Cat (1843)
The narrator is anonymous, consumed by alcohol and anger, and this mixture leads him to take ruthless actions against his wife and pets. During the narration, the protagonist encounters a black cat that catalyzes his moral decay.
As the story progresses, we can see how the narrator’s mental state deteriorates, leading him to self-destruction. Finally, the reader learns the consequences of the protagonist’s actions and the psychological cost of his misdeeds.
This story explores guilt and remorse that can confront an individual’s psyche. Besides, the narrator’s gradual descent into madness reflects the consequences of unbridled rage, shame, and moral decay.
Licensing
Edgar Allan Poe. Best Short Stories. Publishers: Wiley & Putnam (London), 1846, J.S. Redfiled (New York), 1850, A.L. Burt Company (New York), 1907. Originally published between 1839 and 1846. This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Source Texts from Wikisource: “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Man of the Crowd”, “The Black Cat”, in Tales (1846) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Tales_(Poe)
“The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “The Oval Portrait”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Premature Burial”, in The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 1 (1850) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Works_of_the_Late_Edgar_Allan_Poe/Volume_1
“The Tell-Tale Heart”, in Mystery Tales (1907) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mystery_Tales_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe
This digital edition is provided by Ebooks-net in 2024 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. The full text of the license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
To cite this work
Poe, Edgar Allan. Best Short Stories. Ebooks-net, 2024. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://ebooks-net.com/ebook/best-short-stories/
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