Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most important and influential American writers of the 19th century. He was the first author to try to make a professional living as a writer. Much of Poe's work was inspired by the events that happened around him. His poetry alone would ensure his spot in the literary canon. Poe's notable verses range from the early masterpiece âTo Helenâ to the dark, mysterious âUlalume.â From âThe Raven,â which made him world-famous upon its publication in 1845, to âAnnabel Lee,â the posthumously published eulogy for a maiden âin a kingdom by the sea.â
Most famously, Poe completely transformed the genre of the horror story with his masterful tales of psychological depth and insight not envisioned in the genre before his time and scarcely seen in it since. Stories like âThe Tell-Tale Heart,â âThe Cask of Amontillado,â âThe Pit and the Pendulum,â âThe Masque of the Red Death,â and âThe Fall of the House of Usherâ reveal Poeâs talent at its height. He was an early pioneer in the genre of science fiction. Poe was fascinated by the science of his time, and he often wrote stories about new inventions.
Poe too is credited with inventing the modern detective story with âThe Murders in the Rue Morgue.â His concept of deductive reasoning, which he called "ratiocination" inspired countless authors, most famous among them Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes.