Poe: Other Works and Closing Thoughts
Though he lived only forty years, Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most prolific writers of his times. The most often reported number of short stories is sixty-nine, the number provided by the Edgar […]
Category Archives: Short Story Review
Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher
Several times in this survey of Edgar Allan Poe, I alluded to a nonexistent list of my favorite short stories. The list doesn’t exist, because how can it? I’m distrustful of claims of favorites. Such […]
Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart
One afternoon in 6th grade, Miss Chapman sat us down and opened a book. From it, she read “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I don’t remember much else from 6th grade; I’m not even sure that Miss […]
Poe: The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Of all the stories by Edgar Allan Poe that I’ve been reading during these past few weeks, I considered “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” my least favorite. Please do not read too much into […]
Poe: The Masque of the Red Death
“The Masque of the Red Death” reads like a fable. One could imagine it beginning with the stock line, Once upon a time… It’s loaded with irony, symbolism, and poetic justice; in fact, I think […]
Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum
The Spanish Inquisition began in 1478, under the reign of Ferdinand II and Isabella I. It started with the mundane but morally questionable goal of identifying heretics. That was a slippery slope that eventually led […]
Short Story Review: “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
When literary scholars think of Southern Writers, they tend to first think of William Faulkner. Though Southern Literature had been around since Colonial times, in the post-Civil War era, Faulkner gave it new life and […]
“Goodbye, My Brother” by John Cheever
Every summer, the Pommeroys vacationed at Laud’s Head, their vacation home on one of the Massachusetts islands, but this year would be more special, because Lawrence, who rarely came to these reunions, was bringing his […]
Short Story Review: Don’t Look Now
Since visiting Venice as a teenager, I thought of it as the prefect setting for a creepy tale. Walking down narrow allies between tall buldings, especially at night, feels claustrophobic. Knowing that if threatened, fleeing […]
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
I close my eyes and imagine Sherlock Holmes. I see a tall, thin man, a long hooked nose, and sculpted cheeks. He had deep-set eyes and thin lips. Both his arms and legs are long […]
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