His stories are great. He's not just a "horror" writer. He has some fabulous science-fiction as well. ( )

I became a Poe fan in junior high, but hadn't read any in 40 years. It was such fun to read him again and to realize what a master of words and writing he was. Recommended. ( )

This review was occasioned by re-reading, for the umpteenth time, "The Fall of the House of Usher". Like much of Poe, there are traces of sheer genius and elements, that if you care to look at them that way, are pretty bad writing. In this case, for instance, the narrator says on at least three occasions that words simply cannot describe something. And repeatedly Poe breaks one of the cardinal rules of writing, "Show, don't tell." Yet the overall oppressive atmosphere of the story is brilliant, as is the long opening sentence. I, as I suspect many others were, was fascinated with the stories and particularly the poems of Poe by the time I was 10 years old. There were Poe stories around my parents' house and of course there was the endless series of Roger Corman movies loosely based on Poe's works that one of our local channels showed almost every Friday night. Back them, however, this was one of the stories that interested me the least. The language was way overdone (and still is--even for Poe) and there is a scarcity of dialogue that certainly doesn't make for a quick read. As I've grown older, though, this is a story I have returned to periodically simply to get lost in the darkness. Poe's stories, even if they have physical aspects of horror as this one does, really take place in the heads of his characters. It isn't the horrible thing that matters--it is our impression of it. 160 years after his death, Poe is still feeding those parts of our minds that draw their strength from our innermost fears. ( )

I didn't read this particular edition, but have several books by him, so this was easier to add here. He's not my favorite author, but I'm not much of a horror or poetry buff. I can't deny his influence & popularity nor his skill. Some of his ideas have been re-used as much as Shakespeare's. If you've never read him, you should, if only to know where a lot of knock-off plots are coming from. ( )

As a young child and as an adult, Edgar Allen Poe has always been a favorite of mine. Poems like Annabel Lee and The City By The Sea motivated me to read and learn more about Poe and his works.