... the morbid and haunting tone in all of his creative works. Critics and experts agree that the theme of death reveals itself time and time again throughout his short stories and poems. The facts of Edgar Allan Poe's life are hard and seem to be one disaster after another. He was born in Boston ... had the tendency to overdo the detail. He wanted to the reader to have a sense of dreariness about them. The recurring theme in his short stories such as "The Fall of the House of Usher- and "A Descent into the Maelstrom- reflects his own fear and fascination ... always they see too much") and...

• Word Count: 1888
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School