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Edgar Allan Poe was an American author in the first half of the 19th century famous for scaring the hell out of the readers. He's the master of dismemberment, underground crypts, murder, suffocation, ghosts, the living dead, haunted mansions, bloodstream, and all the other amazing features of your favourite horror films.

He has been hugely popular in France, and several scholars attribute this popularity to the stunning translations of his work by the poet Baudelaire, that left Poe poetic instead of melodramatic (too dramatic).

Poe remains generally popular, if not lauded in academia, for both his short stories and his or her poetry. Both are showcased in "The Fall of the home of Usher," his most famous short story (the poem is buried within it). "Usher" was first released in 1839 at Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and can be pretty much average Poe material: it tells the story of a sick brother and brother that... well, let's not give the end away.

"Usher" has been read and re-read by critic after critic, also there are lots of interesting "theories" to describe the significant action of the narrative. Many have approached the narrative from a psychological standpoint, which will make more sense to you once you read the text and check out our "Character Analyses." There's also been some criticism about the story's average Poe-ness; some believe that it's too formulaic and depends on stock Poe personalities which may be located in any number of their stories.

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