Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror

Master storyteller. Madman. America’s dark genius. Who was Edgar Allan Poe, and why have his bizarre and fascinating works resonated with readers so strongly?

Through these 10 lectures, you will delve into the darkness of Poe’s most nightmarish stories, including “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. You’ll also learn how he invented the detective story and explored themes of love and loss in such poems as “Ulalume” and “Annabel Lee”. And you’ll discover how Poe employed symbolism, imagery, rhythm and rhyme, irony and paradox, repetition, simile, and foreshadowing to create a unique body of work that has enthralled readers and influenced writers for more than 150 years.

But our fascination with Poe is only partly his provocative, often disturbing literature. He is widely known for living an unconventional and tortured life - a life filled with loss, poverty, neglect, and self-destruction. So, in addition to the scope of his work, you’ll get captivating insights into the man himself: his tragic life and the inner workings of his curious mind. Plagued with more than his fair share of illness, conflict, misery, and death through most of his existence, Poe also notoriously exhibited bizarre behaviors that frequently undermined his quest for literary fame. Your professor, Mark Canada, draws on his own research into Poe’s psychology, including some insights from modern brain science, to understand why Poe acted and wrote as he did.

Unpack the works, the life, and the mind of Edgar Allen Poe to discover what makes him a uniquely haunting author to this day.

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Literary Lectures about Poe and His Writings

This one is a good course to listen to, specially if you want to learn or understand the writings and artistry of Poe, and how his life and struggles were reflected on his works. Breaks down the usage and repetition of words, plus their meaning and importance. This lecture also emphasized the influence of Poe and his works on many succeeding writers, and today's pop culture.

More Than Just a Tell-Tale Heart: A Raven-ous Look

This Great Courses installment provides a steady, academic overview of one of literature’s most enigmatic figures. While it offers a solid foundation for those looking to look beyond the "madman" persona often attributed to Poe, it occasionally feels more like a standard lecture series than a deep dive into the visceral mechanics of his horror.

The Positives
Humanizing the Legend: Mark Canada does an excellent job of stripping away the sensationalized myths surrounding Poe’s death and "dark" personality. Instead, he presents Poe as a hardworking professional writer, an influential editor, and a pioneer of the detective genre. This historical context adds significant weight to the analysis of his creative output.

Clear Literary Analysis: The course effectively breaks down Poe’s "Philosophy of Composition," explaining how he meticulously engineered his stories for a single emotional effect. For listeners who enjoy understanding the how behind the who, Canada’s breakdown of Poe’s technical precision is enlightening.

Constructive Criticism
Pacing and Energy: At times, the delivery feels a bit dry for a subject as macabre and atmospheric as Poe. While the information is academically sound, the series lacks some of the gothic "teeth" or immersive storytelling that would make a study of horror truly gripping. It leans more toward a biography of a writer than an exploration of the psychological shadows that make his work timeless.

Key Quote
"Poe was not just a writer of ghost stories; he was a master architect of the human psyche, building rooms of terror that we still find ourselves trapped in today."

Poe

Forget the lies that Rufus Grisswald told you. This the real Poe and nothing less

Poe’s Voice

The readers “Poe” voice ruined this for me. Pompous and oddly feminine.. little lord fauntleroy vibes:(

A nice trip into the mind of a master

This is a well produced and well presented look at a life that is often remembered for specific highs and lows.