Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

Rating:
Summary: Macabre , Mysterious, & Masterful
Review: Poe is a masterful storyteller. I read him when I was in high school and fell under his spell. I read him again as an adult, and feel that I am still just touching the tip of his depth. I enjoyed him immensely at bothe levels. He throws in French and Latin quotes that still largely mystify me. But even with those aside the tales are wonderfully mysterious. Poe often leaves you wondering throughout the entire story, "What exactly is going on?" While the poor fellow led a tragic life himself, it produced in him some wonderful tales. They infuse the reader with a creeping sense of awe that writers of gory horror cannot hope to match.

Rating:
Summary: Review for book, not contents of book.
Review: I think Peo's genius hardly needs discussion on this forum.
So, I offer a small review on the physical book itself.

As another reviewer mentioned, there are no annotations.
You will have to translate (or find on the Net) the Latin,
the French, etc., yourself, though you can skip them and
still understand the story. I'm no Poe scholar, so I don't
know which works, if any, were excluded from the book, but
all of my favorites are here ("The Tell Tale Heart," "The
Fall of the House of Usher," "The Raven," etc.) and several
more that I've never heard of until now.

This is a solid volume, containing some of the best short
stories ever written in English and I've enjoyed reading
them immensely.

5 out of 5.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: One of the downfalls most poets go through is that only one or two of their poems are regularly published in literature books leaving the others lost and forgotten. This book gives us a look at all of Poe's poems, the ones not published but equally as good as the others. There is nothing like snuggling up at night and being horrified by one of his tales. Poe's work is priceless and most of the time his excellent writing is all but forgotten in english literaure. It is a must in anyones collection...

Rating:
Summary: Poe, the Authority of Alarm, Anxiety, and Awe
Review: As a high school student, I have learned about many great authors and poets:Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Benjamin Franklin, to name a few. However, without a doubt and hands down, Edgar Allan Poe is by far the
greatest author. Poe has an amazing ability to catch his reader's attention, fulfill them during the story, and disappoint them at the ending. This disappointment is not because the story was unsatisfactory and dull, but because the reader craves more of Poe's phenomenal and entertaining writing. The first time I read Poe (The Tell-Tale Heart), I was fascinated with his ability to make me feel that I was caught up with Poe's insanity. His story was absolutely terrifying, yet there were no demons, devils, beasts, basilisks, or monsters involved. I was confused of where the disturbing terror was coming from. After reading many of his short stories and poems, I realized that the fear could not even be found in the story at all. It is found in the reader's soul, beliefs, and heart. This horror is not exposed every time you open a book by Poe. It is with you constantly, every day and second, as long as your heart is still beating...and perhaps even after.