Edgar Allan Poe
3 books
- Poe's poems are best read aloud at night, when the hypnotic drumbeat of The Raven and the sad chime of Annabel Lee can really work on you. It's a small body of work, moody and musical, and if gothic melancholy isn't your thing, skip it.
- Best read one story at a night, alone, when the house is quiet: the heartbeat under the floorboards, Montresor walling up his friend brick by brick, Usher's house splitting open. Poe gets under your skin slowly, so skip it if dread isn't your idea of fun.
- Poe's only novel, and it's a strange one: what starts as a boy stowing away on a whaler slides into mutiny, starvation, and lots drawn among desperate men, then keeps getting weirder. If you like stories that end tidily, skip it; if you like a fever dream, go.