Edgar Allan Poe

Biography

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic, regarded as the inventor of the detective fiction genre and a master of horror and the macabre. Born in Boston, orphaned as a child, and raised by John Allan in Richmond, Virginia, Poe led a turbulent life marked by poverty, alcoholism, and personal tragedy. His tales of mystery and horror—including "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "The Masque of the Red Death"—pioneered Gothic fiction in America. His poem "The Raven" (1845) made him a household name. Poe’s literary criticism and theoretical essays on the short story as a form were equally influential. He died under mysterious circumstances in Baltimore at age 40.