Tales of Mystery by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe's stories are continuously republished, famously collected as Tales of Mystery and Imagination. These classics still intrigue after nearly 200 years.

For me, the finest is The Fall of the House of Usher (1839), where a man visits a friend at his decaying, dilapidated home. With encompassing fear, he finds Roderick Usher with a cadaverous pallor, suffering nervous agitation that he is going to perish. This family evil also affects his beloved sister, Lady Madeline, who languishes in apathy. After her death, Roderick is tormented by fears she was entombed alive, and he's not wrong.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) is recognized as the first modern detective story, featuring the mysterious murder of two women by a killer who may not be human!

The Pit and The Pendulum (1842), a man rages with horror finding he is trapped in a rat infested tomb, while thirty feet above him a deadly, swinging blade slowly descends.

The Masque of the Red Death (1842). A prince secures the castle walls to ward off rampant disease, but during a colourful masquerade, an unknown figure appears in the chambers wearing the disconcerting mask of a corpse.

The Tell-Tale Heart (1843). Murder will out when a man can no longer stand the sounds of his victim, buried in the floorboards.

The Black Cat (1843) A man is destroyed after he kills his black cat.

The Purloined Letter (1844) is the third C. Auguste Dupin mystery, after the cases of the Rue Morgue and murder of Marie Roget.

A Cask of Amontillado (1846), where a man encases his victim within a wall.

These tales are surprisingly short, ranging from up to six paperback pages to under twenty-five. I was not impressed with the Rue Morgue, and the last few simply too short to be involving. However, I find The Fall of the House of Usher a masterpiece, and the overall breadth of imagination impresses. Undeniably a master of his field.

1839-1846 / Paperback / 144 pages