Even though his work is so much more than just tales to read for Halloween, it’s hard to deny that Edgar Allan Poe’s spooky stories work best around this time of year. Poe is, without a doubt, October’s writer, his relevance to month cemented by the fact that his death occurred on its seventh day, back in 1849.
The Morgan Library & Museum is also getting into the spirit, with “Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul,” which opened earlier this month and runs through January. The exhibit showcases close to 100 items, most from the Morgan’s holdings and The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature at The New York Public Library. The museum has shared with us a selection of images of the man himself, and we’ve paired them with a handful of Poe’s stories that — while brilliant at any time of year — are perfect to read while the cold autumn rain falls and the temperature drops at night.
Image courtesy of The Morgan
How far would you go to get revenge on somebody who insulted you? Another of Poe’s tales told from the point of view of the murderer, this 1846 story is the last thing you want to read if you frighten easily at the thought of buried alive.
Image courtesy of The Morgan
The unnamed narrator of this 1843 short story really wants to convince you that he isn’t crazy, even as he tells you about how he murdered an old man. This perfect example of Gothic fiction remains one of Poe’s most popular stories.
Image courtesy of The Morgan
Leave it to Poe to write what might be the greatest dead-cat revenge tale of all time with this 1843 story that originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post.
Image courtesy of The Morgan“The Pit and the Pendulum“Poe’s best work of historical fiction uses the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition as inspiration for an 1842 tale that, unlike many of his other works, doesn’t rely on the supernatural.
Image courtesy of The Morgan
“Morella“
Death, family, and the grief: these three things are at the heart of this 1835 short story.
Image courtesy of The Morgan
Prince Prospero and his wealthy friends try to avoid the plague by throwing a masquerade ball. But, as we learn in this 1842 short story, death doesn’t spare revelers.
Image courtesy of The Morgan
We couldn’t make a list like this without mentioning Poe’s best-known work — a narrative poem that we’re going to go ahead and count as a story. And if you’re already read “The Raven” so many times that you’ve begun to hear “nevermore” in you dreams, why not just watch the classic Simpsons version?