Edgar Allan Poe, on inspiration and writing:

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.

- Edgar Allan Poe.

Happy Halloween:

Recommended reading - The Fall of the House of Usher and the Other Major Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

The Fall of the House of Usher and the Other Major Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

by Edgar Allan Poe.

Published by Reader's Library Classics.

Published 2023.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1954839480

ISBN-13: 978-1954839489

Description:

I had been passing alone on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

At the request of his good friend Roderick Usher, a visitor travels to the House of Usher where Roderick and his sister Madeline live. From the time the traveler first steps foot onto the Usher property, a mysterious and foreboding presence fills the air. Almost as if the house itself is alive.

Born in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer and poet best known for his tales of mystery and macabre. His short stories have long been entrenched in American pop culture, and he is regarded as one of the greatest inspirations to the modern horror and mystery genres. His fictional C. Auguste Dupin stories, all included in this collection, are widely considered the first modern detective story, and these stories would become a foundational influence to Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Poe's notable works include The Fall of the House of Usher (1839), The Tell-Tale Heart (1843), The Black Cat (1843), and The Raven (1845), among many others. He died in 1849.

The following 13 tales and 13 poems are included:

Tales: The Fall of the House of Usher; The Tell-Tale Heart; the Black Cat; The Cask of Amontillado; The Pit and the Pendulum; The Masque of the Red Death; The Oval Portrait; The Premature Burial; A Descent into the Maelström; Ligeia.

The C. Auguste Dupin Mysteries: The Murders in the Rue Morgue; The Mystery of Marie Rogêt; The Purloined Letter.

Poems: The Raven; Annabel Lee; Alone; Dream-Land; Eldorado; The Sleeper; Lenore; The City and the Sea; To Helen; The Bells; The Valley of Unrest; To One in Paradise; A Dream within a Dream. 

On this day in movie history - The Fall of the House of Usher (2011)

 

Fall of the House of Usher

directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber,

based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe,

was released at the Athens Film Festival in Greece on September 20, 2011.

The movie was originally released in the United States in 1928.

Exact release date is unknown.

Music by Alec Wilder and Léon Barzin.

 
Cast:
Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, Melville Webber, Friedrich Haak, Dorthea House.

On this day in movie history - The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

The Pit and the Pendulum

directed by Roger Corman,

written by Richard Matheson,

based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe,

was released in the United States on August 23, 1961.

Music by Les Baxter.

Cast:

Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele, Luana Anders, Antony Carbone, Patrick Westwood, Lynette Bernay, Larry Turner, Mary Menzies, Charles Victor, Randee Lynne Jensen.

On this day in movie history - The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

The Masque of the Red Death

directed by Roger Corman,

written by Charles Beaumont and R. Wright Campbell,

was released in the United States on June 24, 1964.

Based on The Masque of the Red Death and Hop-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe,

and Torture by Hope by Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam.

Music by David Lee.

Cast:

Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston, Nigel Green, Patrick Magee, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Robert Brown, Julian Burton, David Davies, Skip Martin, Gaye Brown, Verina Greenlaw, Doreen Dawn, Brian Hewlett, Sarah Brackett.

On this day in movie history - The Black Cat (1981)

The Black Cat

directed by Lucio Fulci,

written by Biagio Proietti, Lucio Fulci and Biagio Proie

based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe,

was released in Italy on April 4, 1981.

Music by Pino Donaggio.

Cast:

Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck, Al Cliver, Dagmar Lassander, Bruno Corazzari, Geoffrey Copleston, Daniela Doria, Lucio Fulci, Vito Passeri.

Edgar Allan Poe, on writing:

 

Through joy and through sorrow, I wrote.

Through hunger and through thirst, I wrote.
Through good report and through ill report, I wrote.
Through sunshine and through moonshine, I wrote ...
 
- Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe, on imagination:

 

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.

- Edgar Allan Poe.

Born on this day – Edgar Allan Poe:

Writer

January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849

Credits:

100 Creepy Little Creature Stories (1994); 100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories (1993); 100 Wild Little Weird Tales (1994); 21 Great Stories (1969); 30 Press Presents: Classic Horror Poems Volume One (2023); 40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology (2000); 50 Great American Short Stories (1963); 50 Great Short Stories (1952); 65 Great Spine Chillers (1982); A Cat of a Different Color (2020); A Cat of Artistic Sensibilities (2021); A Cat of Cozy Situations (2020); A Cat of Disdainful Looks (2020); A Cat of Fantastic Whims (2021); A Cat of Feral Instincts (2021); A Cat of Heroic Heart (2020); A Cat of Perfect Taste (2020); A Cat of Strange Lands (2020); A Descent into the Maelstrom (1841); A Few Words on Secret Writing (2014); A Predicament (1838); A Tale of Jerusalem (1832); A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (1843); Adventure Stories for Boys and Girls (1985); Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems (1829); American Midnight (2019); Anastatic Printing (1845); Annabel Lee (1849); Behind the Mask - Tales from the Id (2018); Berenice (1835); Birds of Prey (2010); Books to Die For (2012); Classic Cat Stories (2020); Classic Sea Stories (1996); Classic Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories (1996); Dark (2000); Detective Duos (1997); Diddling (1843); Dreams and Wonders (2010); Easy Reading for Difficult Devils: An Anthology of Dark Fiction (2014); Echoes Of Terror (1980); Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories (2018); Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works (2007); Eerie Archives Volume 13 (2013); Eerie Archives Volume 14 (2013); Eerie Archives Volume 16 (2014); Eerie Archives Volume 2 (2009); Eerie Archives Volume 21 (2016); Eerie Archives Volume 22 (2016); Eerie Archives, Vol. 1 (2004); Eerie Archives, Vol. 10 (2012); Eerie Archives, Vol. 11 (2012); Eerie Archives, Vol. 12 (2013); Eerie Archives, Vol. 3 (2010); Eerie Archives, Vol. 4 (2010); Eerie Archives, Vol. 5 (2010); Eerie Archives, Vol. 8 (2011); Eerie Archives, Vol. 9 (2012); Eleonora (1842); Eureka (1848); Fantastic, Fall 1952 (1952); Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction (1948); Fireside Horror Stories About Mummies and Curses (2017); Fireside Horror Stories About Supernatural Cats (2017); Fossil Lake II (2015); Four Beasts in One - The Homo-Cameleopard (1836); Ghost Stories (1986); Great Fantasy (1983); Great Law and Order Stories (1990); Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror (1931); Great Tales of Action and Adventure (1958); Great Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (1979); Great Tales of Terror (1845); H. P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural (2006); H.P. Lovecraft's Book of Horror (1993); King Pest (1835); Landor's Cottage (1845); Letters Until Now Unpublished (1973); Ligeia (1838); Maelzel's Chess-Player (1836); Master's Choice: Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them (2000); Masters of the Macabre (1999); Mesmeric Revelation (1844); Metzengerstein (1832); Morella (1835); Morning on the Wissahiccon (1844); Ms. Found in a Bottle (1833); Never Bet the Devil Your Head (1841); Night Frights Issue #2 (2021); Nightmares on Congress Street, Part V (2006); Perspectives in Literature: A Book of Short Stories, Vol. 1 (1983); Poetry Comix (2020); Politian: An Unfinished Tragedy (1923); Psychos (2012); Red Sky (2014); Sea Tales of Terror (1974); Sea-Cursed (1994); Selected Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (2016); Shadow (1835); Short Stories: After Dark Classics (2012); Some Words with a Mummy (1845); Stories for the Dead of Night (1957); Tainted: Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (2008); Tales and Poems (2004); Tales of Mystery (1963); Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1908); Tales of Mystery and Terror (2008); Tales of the Devil (2020); Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840); Tales of the Occult (1989); Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827); The Angel of The Odd (1844); The Balloon-Hoax (1844); The Bells and Other Poems (2017); The Black Cat (1843); The Campfire Collection: Spine-tingling Tales to Tell in the Dark (2000); The Cask of Amontillado (1846); The Colloquy of Monos and Una (1845); The Complete Stories (1993); The Complete Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (1849); The Detective Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (1979); The Devil in the Belfry (1839); The Domain of Arnheim (1846); The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (2023); The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845); The Fall of the House of Usher (2016); The Giant Book of Zombies (1993); The Gold-Bug (1843); The Great Sea Adventure (2019); The Greatest Ghost and Horror Stories Ever Written: volume 3 (2019); The Imp of The Perverse (1845); The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840); The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq (1844); The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction (2004); The Mammoth Book of Body Horror (2012); The Mammoth Book of Fantasy All-Time Greats (1988); The Mammoth Book of Zombies (1993); The Man of the Crowd (1840); The Masque of the Red Death (1842); The Monster Book of Monsters (1988); The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841); The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales (1841); The Mystery of Marie Roget (1842); The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838); The Oblong Box (1844); The Oval Portrait (1845); The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (1992); The Philosophy of Composition (1846); The Philosophy of Furniture (1840); The Pit and the Pendulum (1842); The Poetic Principle (2000); The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe (1843); The Purloined Letter (1844); The Rationale of Verse (2013); The Raven (1845); The Raven and Other Poems (1845); The Raven and Other Selected Poems (2015); The Short Story: 30 Masterpieces (1992); The Spectacles (1844); The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings (1843); The Thousand-And-Second Tale of Scheherazade (1845); The Ultimate Short Story Bundle (2020); The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall (1835); The Vintage Book of Classic Crime (1997); The World's Greatest Horror Stories (2004); Thrillers (1994); Weird Business (1995); Wickedest Show on Earth (1985); William Wilson (1839); Writers: Their Lives and Works (2018); Writing New York (1998); Zombies!: Tales of the Walking Dead (2013).