Edgar Allan Poe

This came up as a book group book. I bought a copy containing 'the best of his macabre tales complete and unabridged'.

I enjoy collections of short stories but generally prefer something with an array of authors. To me, the variety is the point. And there are repetitive themes running through Poe's work. A fascination with being buried alive, for example, is a prevalent one.

Early works such as 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' and 'The Purloined Letter', focus on solving something - a mystery or a crime. The format is usually that the solver takes pleasure in giving his less cunning friend a blow by blow account of the solution and how he reached it. It always felt a bit 'clever old me'. Jarring and perhaps too dated to be appreciated fully today.

Best story so far without a doubt - 'The Pit and the Pendulum'. Poe succeeds in evoking heart stopping suspense. It's one that, once started, must be finished. Surely a sign of brilliant storytelling?

I gorged on horror and suspense in my early teens so reading Poe frequently made me feel a bit like a teenager again. Still, nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, I'm going to read a few more before I pass my final judgement.