Don't Fall Asleep Alone In the Dark Woods Quiz

Answer:

Despite his troubled life and mysterious death at the age of 40, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) has left his mark on the history of literature, both for his poetry and for his short stories and novellas. His tales in particular are regarded as essential in the development of the popular literary genres of horror, detective fiction and science fiction.

"MS. Found in a Bottle" (1833) is one of Poe's earliest short stories, a weird sea tale told by an unknown narrator through the titular manuscript. The story, which has some elements in common with S.T. Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the legend of the Flying Dutchman, also bears some similarities with Poe's only novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" (1838).

Written in 1838, "Ligeia" is a quintessential dark romantic tale, narrated by the unnamed husband of the titular character - a beautiful, talented woman with raven-black hair. As the narrator is described as an opium addict, the story - which hinges on the premise that death may be kept at bay by a strong will - has often been interpreted as an opium-fuelled hallucination.

"A Descent into the Maelstrom" (1841) contains elements of science fiction, though suspense and terror are equally strong in this tale of survival against all odds. Framed as a story within a story, it is set in the Lofoten archipelago, off the northern coast of Norway. The titular Maelstrom ("grinding current") is a huge whirlpool inspired by a real system of strong tidal currents called Moskstraumen.

Like Oscar Wilde's "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" - which was inspired by it - "The Oval Portrait" (1842) explores the relationship between art and life and the sinister power of a painting. The portrait mentioned in the title depicts a young woman, whose story is told by a book found by the narrator in an abandoned house. The story is one of Poe's shortest - only two pages in length.

Also published in 1842, "The Masque of the Red Death" is one of Poe's most openly Gothic tales, adopting the traditional castle setting of earlier works such as Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto" (1764). Filled with elaborate descriptions of the interiors of the abbey where the protagonist, Prince Prospero, and a group of other nobles try to hide from a plague, the story has often been interpreted as an allegory of the inevitability of death.

Published towards the end of 1842, "The Pit and the Pendulum" is one of Poe's most famous tales, often adapted in various media. It is also a rare horror story where the supernatural element is absent, and fear is inspired in the reader by the description of realistic torments - both physical and psychological. Though set during the Spanish Inquisition, the story's historical background is rather vague, and the tortures to which the narrator is subjected have no historical parallels.

In "The Gold-Bug" (1843) mystery and adventure are more prominent elements than terror. The tale, inspired by the popularity of secret writing in the 1840s, focuses on an unusual-looking, scarab-like insect with whom a man, William Legrand, becomes obsessed - believing it to be the key to finding a buried treasure. The story, which made cryptograms popular in newspapers and magazines, was also a major inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island".

As its title implies, "The Premature Burial" (1844) hinges on the fear of being buried alive - which at that time was a particular concern in Western culture due to a large number of reported (and often widely publicized) cases. The story's unnamed narrator suffers from unexplained attacks of catalepsy, which explains his morbid fear of being believed dead and thus buried. Some of Poe's best-known horror stories also feature premature burials.

Mistaken for a scientific report at the time of publication, "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" (1845) is the tale of a man (the titular M. Valdemar) who is put in a suspended hypnotic state by the narrator at the moment of death from tuberculosis - the disease that claimed the life of Poe's wife, Virginia, two years later. The story is remarkable for its graphic descriptions of physical decay, which Poe based on his own studies of medical texts.

Published in 1846, "The Cask of Amontillado" is a harrowing tale of revenge set in an unnamed Italian city during the carnival season. The story, in which the theme of burial when still alive is a major element, is told from the point of view of Montresor, whose motives for avenging himself on his friend Ferdinando remain unclear. Some scholars maintain that Poe wrote the story as an outlet for his very real desire for revenge against his literary rivals.

The six wrong answers are all titles of short stories or novellas by H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), the American writer of supernatural horror fiction who is widely regarded as Poe's heir. A great admirer of Poe's work, Lovecraft wrote extensively about him in his 1927 essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature".