Halley's Comet had just swung by and the infamous Baptist preacher William Miller was foretelling the end of the world.
Edgar Allan Poe was quick to capitalise on the atmosphere of fear and curiosity that spread across America after this event.
In 'The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion', a pioneer of the sci-fi genre, Poe has Eiros (who died when the world ended) talking about the apocalypse with Charmion, who died 10 years earlier.
Eiros tells how a comet was spotted - an event that was followed by excitement, complacency, uncertainty, exhilaration and a final, awful reckoning.
If you like this short story, you may also enjoy John Wyndham's 'The Day of the Triffids', Mary Shelley's 'The Last Man', and 'The Stand' by Stephen King.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American poet, author, and literary critic. Despite a brief life, he was celebrated for his poetry, short stories, and tales of the supernatural. He is also regarded as the inventor of the detective genre and a contributor to the emergence of science fiction, dark romanticism, and weird fiction.
In 1827, Poe joined the US Army under an assumed name and had his first collection, 'Tamerlane and Other Poems,' published anonymously. He worked as a literary critic and moved around America, writing as he went while his works gradually built an audience.
His most famous works include ´The Raven´ (1945), ´The Black Cat´ (1943), and ´The Gold-Bug´ (1843).
