Selected Tales

In 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'The Black Cat' he wrote the first and best tales of terror; with 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' and his fictional detective M. Dupin he invented the detective story; and tales such as 'MS. Found in a Bottle' and 'Von Kempelen and His Discovery' pioneered modern science-fiction.

As readers will discover, Poe possessed an unrivalled capacity to create atmosphere and suspense, and to probe the dark depths of the human psyche. All the stories in this volume push back the boundaries, making the improbable possible, the familiar terrifying and strange.