Tag: Edgar Allan Poe

“The Lake” by Edgar Allan Poe Review

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The lake is a poem. The Poem about a haunted lake somewhere in the world.

Another amazing poem writing by no other than Edgar Allan Poe. You might think that it is a single poem about lake but nothing is so simple with Edgar Allan Poe. This poem is about the celebration of loneliness and thoughts inspired by a lake.

The writing style is very 1800 ish. It is less gothic than other work of Edgar Allan Poe, but still it is somehow gothic.

You can read this poem in 5 minutes. It is very simple and quick read. But this doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. 

This story keep you hooked to it. However this poem isn’t something I would recommend for you, if you are beginning your adventure with Edgar Allan Poe. 

This is a small sad poem about a sad lonely person. And nothing more than this. So if you want to read a poem about sadness and death in a lake then pick this poem up. 

However the loneliness and sombre atmospheres in this poem may be comforting to some people who are like me.

I give this poem 5 / 5

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe Review

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The tale centers around a black cat and the subsequent deterioration of a man – from one of enjoying family life with his wife and numerous pets through his radical change for the worse.

This short story is one of the most darkest stories written by Edgar Allan Poe. So keep that in mind, if you are easily scared. This story is also very disturbing but at the same time very interesting and entertaining.

This story is very similar to “The Tell-Tale Heart”, which I have reviewed one month ago. However I personally feel like there is much more into this story than the “The Tell-Tale Heart” have. 

We have only 4 characters in this story, which again Edgar Allan Poe doesn’t fail us on the “Quilty over quantity” term. Every character in this story is unique in some way. 

There are death involved in this story as well as animal abuse and alcohol abuse, which isn’t for everyone. So keep that in mind as well before you read this story.

There is a scene in this story where the killing of a cat is very brutally described. Which might be triggering for some readers. 

This book doesn’t fail to show the process of someone very stable slowly going madder and madder, and how someone can suffer from hysteria or something very close to hysteria. This tale also shows how a pet or a small thing can make you lose your sanity. 

The writing style is just brilliant, it is written in again a very typical 1800s style. A horror story together with the 1800s writing style is really something which more authors should do now on days.

This story is told from a distant and very calm + very sane perspective. Which makes this story even more interesting especially when you are an Edgar Allan Poe lover like me.

I give this story 4 / 5

“Ligeia” by Edgar Allan Poe Review

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The story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman. She falls ill, composes “The Conqueror Worm”, and quotes lines attributed to Joseph Glanvill shortly before dying

Lady Ligeia which this story is about gothic woman’s image in this tale.

The ending is for the most part unexacting and enjoyable. Isn’t that why people love Edgar Allan Poe’s work?

The whole story is definitely creepy and interesting. However the point of this story might be hard to understand for some people. The basic premise of this story is the narrator’s relationship with Ligeia, his wife, to the grave and beyond.

The tone to this story is very gothic and very Edgar Allan Poe style. Which makes this story to a classic Edgar Allan Poe tale. But in the end this story is very similar to other Edgar Allan Poe’s work, which doesn’t make this story to something remarkable.

Some people will have hard time with this tale because they will feel that this tale is the same tale told in another perspective. Because this tale have all the main topics which some other Edgar Allan Poe’s work has. These topics are death of a beautiful woman, monomania, drug and narrator wondering if falling in love with another woman is right or wrong.

This tale is another story about a man descanting into madness because of his love have died. 

The writing style is of course very gothic, moody and amazing. As we all can expect from Edgar Allan Poe.

I give this tale 2 / 5

“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe Review

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“The Fall of the House of Usher” recounts the terrible events that befall the last remaining members of the once-illustrious Usher clan before it is — quite literally — rent asunder. With amazing economy, Poe plunges the reader into a state of deliciously agonizing suspense. It’s a must-read for fans of the golden era of horror writing.

The whole tale is written in a very gothic and moody style, which a horror fan will enjoy. 

Characters, there are very few of them. There are only 5 characters if you count the narrator. Every character have something unique to it, and they are pretty much written in different perspectives which gives us a unique vibe to every character. 

This story predates the modern psychology that eventually is able to put a name to those illnesses which the main characters suffer from. Of course back then people knew very little about various illnesses and mental health which makes this story even more interesting.

Edgar Allan Poe takes us through the darkest corners of the human mind in this tale. Which we need to give him points for, because there are a lot of horrors / thrillers authors now on days who are failing to do so. However if you read other works of Edgar Allan Poe in the past you will have no problem with getting  in and getting out of this tale. Because it is written in the typical Edgar Allan Poe style. 

This tale is very good at showing the reader that our imaginations can always conjure up worse horrors than those we can actually see.

This story is at some point very unique because it is all about This short story the last days of two survivors of a prestigious family, which we don’t read a lot about in books. Of course it is fiction but it doesn’t make it less interesting or less realistic in your head while you are reading this tale. 

There is a huge dark atmosphere to this tale, and it is very clear to see that this tale is one of the best works by Edgar Allan Poe. 

This tale might be hard for someone people to get into, because it starts a little bit confusing, and you sort of don’t know what’s happening at the beginning. 

This tale can be read in one short sitting, which is amazing. Especially when you are struggling to focus on reading for some reason. 

Another thing which may be a little bit of topic is that this tale is perfect to read while quarantine. Because the story of this book focuses on a man who has been in isolation for an extended period of time and is deteriorating into madness. Which is always better to read about when you need to be in quarantine or isolated. 

There are some good and deep gothic elements in this tale. Which for the most part are a haunted  house, a mysterious illness, madness, death, entombment, a dungeon, a violent storm, a cursed family, resurrection and much more. There are a lot of elects in this tale which somehow Edgar Allan Poe puts together in a perfect way, where everything makes sense. 

I give this book 4 / 5

“Hop Frog” By Edgar Allan Poe Review

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94Hop-Frog and his friend Trippetta have been captured by one of the king’s generals and brought back to the King as servants. Hop-Frog serves as jester to the king and Trippetta helps to plan and decorate for social events. She is also forced to dance for the king and his court. Both Hop-Frog and Trippetta are dwarves. The King and his ministers enjoy laughing at and abusing Hop-Frog. Even his name is the result of their making fun of the way he walks. When the abuse becomes unbearable, Hop-Frog devises and carries out an ingenious but horrific plan of revenge upon the King and his ministers.

This is a very short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. This is sort of a horror / fiction short story, which for the most part is like survivable. Of course it can’t be compared with “raven” by Edgar Allan Poe but  after all this was a pretty decent revenge story.

This short story was one of the lesser known story written by Edgar Allan Poe. And whole story can be wrap up with only 3 words which are “Revenge, retribution and dark”.

It was a pretty unique story about a dwarf.  However the narrator of this story wasn’t named, and it wasn’t said what relation the narrator had to this story. I personally like to know what relation to the story the person who narrates the story have. There are a point in the story where you will think that the narrator was actually the dwarf himself.

I mean this book wasn’t that great, so that I could talk for 2 hours about it but nether it wasn’t so bad that I would put horse shit on it.

There are few characters in this story. Which for the record is fine as long as the characters are good.

I give this book 2 / 5

“The Oblong Box” by Edgar Allan Poe Review

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Typical of mystery stories of the Victorian Period. The narrator is an observer to the main action, while trying to solve the mystery of the oblong box. The reader follows the narrator’s view point as he makes assumptions and finally learns the truth.

For the most part this is a short and captivating read. Which once more can be read in 1-2 hours.

The narrator is on a sailing trip from Charleston to New York. Aboard is a friend of his, an artist named Wyatt and his entourage. A very inquisitive unknown narrator tells the story of his voyage, which happens again in a Edgar Allan Poe tale.

Baffling right from the beginning with a delayed voyage, a mysterious box, strange nightly noises followed by muffled sobbing, and then dead stillness.

At first it seemed like a detective story with a touch of supernatural. But it turned out to be of a completely different type. Even though this one is predictable.

However this tale dont feel like the typical work written by Edgar Allan Poe. Because instead of the foreboding atmosphere of horror, this felt more inquisitive.

I give this book 3 / 5

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe Review

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A murderer is convinced that the loud beating of his victim’s heart will give him away to the police.

Another incredible tale written by no other than Edgar Allan Poe.

It is more or less a perfect haunting short story that will allow you to examine madness and wickedness at the depths of the human soul. I wouldn’t call this tale a horror story, because it is more a psychological tale.

It is a strange story, but it is an easy and good read. And no less it is a quick tale, which again can be read in just 1-2 hours.

This tale is a written from the first-person storytelling. And the writing style is almost too perfect to be true.

The story itself is intense and will make you ponder for a long time. The whole tale is a typical Edgar Allan Poe tale.

An unnamed narrator who is telling this story plots to kill an elderly man because he hates his horrible and scary “vulture eye” makes this story unique at least .

More or less this tale is a dark tale, which is about a man’s descent into madness

I give this tale 3 / 5

“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe Review

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The story follows Prince Prospero’s attempts to avoid a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, has a masquerade ball within seven rooms of his abbey, each decorated with a different color. The story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading. Many different interpretations have been presented, as well as attempts to identify the true nature of the titular disease

This whole tale is realistic, it almost sounds like the Black Death case. Because one family member could be perfectly healthy in the morning, start feeling sick at noon, spit blood and be in excruciating pain in the evening and be dead by midnight. 

This book shows the Classic Edgar Allan Poe foreshadowing of denial. Which is brilliant, if you want to taste the classic work of Edgar Allan Poe this tale is something to pick up after “Raven”.

This one was short, straight to the point. It is also creepy and it is giving an unsolved murder vibe, which could have happen now on days.

Fascinating and lurid allegory about a group of people who, on the invitation of “Prince Prospero,” lock themselves within a “castellated abbey” to escape the Red Death.  The whole story is unique and very fun to read. It is short which means that you can read it in 1 hour or so. And the mysterious illnes ravaging the country and a rich leader decides to deny reality by partying with his croonies adds even more to the story.

This tale is really good at showing that death waits for no man.  Time can’t stop the inevitable; it can only delay it

I give this book 3 / 5