Tag Archives: Poe

Dear Edgar ~23 William Wilson

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Mark Hayes

“In me didst thou exist—and in my death, see … how utterly thou hast murdered thyself.” William Wilson is a tale with more than one interpretation, which possibly accounts for the remarkable number of adaptions of a story which is … Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar #22 The Fall of the House of Usher

Posted on October 27, 2024 by Mark Hayes

The themes of three earlier stories in particular are each echoed in this story, those being Morella, Berenice and Ligeia. Which is not to say that Edgar was obsessed with putting female characters into soporific states that seem death like, decaying, and wasting away, but it is a theme that comes up time and time again in the early tales. What is odd is that these themes were so prevalent before the wasting disease that would take his wife from him not many years later was diagnosed. Equally the male characters in all these stories react to these tragedies with obsession and madness that echoes how the death of Victoria was to plunge him into a deep alcohol fuelled depression and began his own downward spiral to an early grave.

Occasionally life imitates art in dreadful ways. Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar #21 The Man That Was Used Up

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Mark Hayes

All of which is no way as humorous in these latter days than it was intended to be when Poe wrote it and as much as Poe needs to be read with him being ‘of his time’ in mind, sometimes that excusing of the writer doesn’t make the reading of their tales any easier. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar, humour, Poe, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged amreading, book-review, books, Dear Edgar, Poe, reads, sciencefiction, writing | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar #18 Blackwood

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Mark Hayes

‘How to Write a Blackwood Article’ and ‘A Predicament’ are two parody’s written by Poe and published in the same edition of the magazine, American Museum. One serves as an introductory piece for the other and in effect they form … Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar #17 Ligeia

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Mark Hayes

And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries of the will, with its vigor? For God is but a great will pervading all things by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield himself to the … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar | Tagged books, Dear Edgar, Edgar Alan Poe, edgar-allan-poe, gothic, horror, Poe, reads, writerslife, writing | 2 Comments

Dear Edgar 16: Silence, a fable

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

“It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood.” It is not unreasonable to say that a good half of our Dear Edgar’s out put over the years was poetry. As … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged amreading, Edgar Alan Poe, Poe, poetry, reads | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar ~14: Four Beasts in One

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Mark Hayes

‘Glory of the East,’ thou art in danger of mastication! This is clearly either on of the finest sentences ever written, or a really odd typo to find in the middle of an Edgar Allen Poe story. So lets go … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Dear Edgar, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged amreading, books, Edgar Alan Poe, Poe, reads, writing | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar #12 King Pest

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Mark Hayes

King Pest is also a bit of an odd ball, even amongst other Poe stories. It reveals in description and the grotesque to a far greater extent than even Poe’s usual work. While the story is something akin to a nightmarish romp through a plague ridden London. Think of it as the literary equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar, horror, humour, opinion, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged amreading, amreadinghorror, Dear Edgar, Edgar Alan Poe, horror, Poe | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar #11 The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Edgar Allen Poe remains one to the most influential writers of the western cannon. His Horror stories inspired many writers, not least those of HP Lovecraft’s generation a hundred years later and by extension Steven King generation were inspired by both Poe and the previous generations he had inspired. Without Poe there may never have been a Cthulhu or a Pennywise the clown. Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar #10 Lionizing

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Mark Hayes

We are eight billion lost souls, seeking to be celebrated for our celebrity, rather than our achievements. All seeking to be lionised, to become the in thing, that which is, rather than that which never will be or never was… Continue reading →