Fall of the House of Usher

The 100th title in the much-loved Penguin Clothbound Classics series: a selection of stories, poetry and other writings from the master of Gothic horror, Edgar Allan Poe. This volume demonstrates the astonishing power and imagination with which Poe probed the darkest corners of the human mind. 'The Fall of the House of Usher' describes the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In 'The Tell-Tale Heart', a murderer's insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and 'The Cask of Amontillado' explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate. This volume also includes the classic 'The Raven', among other poems and essays.This is the 100th volume in the Penguin Clothbound Classics series, designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. These delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design, and this edition also includes special endpapers.Edited and with an introduction by the novelist, curator and academic David Galloway. 'The most original genius that America has produced'Alfred, Lord Tennyson'Poe has entered our popular consciousness as no other American writer'The New York Times Book Review

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) was born in Boston and orphaned at an early age. Taken in by a couple from Richmond, Virginia, he spent a semester at the University of Virginia but could not afford to stay longer. After joining the Army and matriculating as a cadet, he started his literary career with the anonymous publication of Tamerlane and Other Poems, before working as a literary critic. His life was dotted with scandals, such as purposefully getting himself court-martialled to ensure dismissal from the Army, being discharged from his job at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond after being found drunk by his boss, and secretly marrying his thirteen-year-old cousin Virginia (listed twenty-one on the marriage certificate). His work took him to both New York City and Baltimore, where he died at the age of forty, two years after Virginia.