List of Characters
The Pit and the Pendulum
The narrator
He is condemned to die in a terrible cell.
The Black Cat
The narrator
He kills his cat and his wife, but is caught.
The Murders in the Street of Death
Mr Dupin
He investigates two murders and works out that the killer is an animal.
The Long Box
The narrator
On a sea voyage, he tries to find out why his friend is acting so strangely.
Mr C. Wyatt
He carries a long box with him that contains the dead body of his wife.
Some Words with a Mummy
The narrator
After talking with a mummy, he decides to get himself preserved.
The Count
A mummy who is brought back to life.
The Fall of the House of Usher
The narrator
He tries to help his friend, who is ill.
Roderick Usher
A young man, who dies because of the terrors in his house.
Lady Madeline
She is buried alive in the cellar of her house.
The Cask of Amontillado
Fortunato
He mistreats Montresor, and is buried alive by him.
Montresor
He seeks revenge on Fortunato by burying him alive.
The Stolen Letter
Minister Devine
He steals an important letter to gain power over a royal person.
Mr Dupin
He realizes that the Minister keeps the letter in an obvious place.
The narrator
He is condemned to die in a terrible cell.He kills his cat and his wife, but is caught.On a sea voyage, he tries to find out why his friend is acting so strangely.After talking with a mummy, he decides to get himself preserved.He tries to help his friend, who is ill.
Mr Dupin
He investigates two murders and works out that the killer is an animal.He realizes that the Minister keeps the letter in an obvious place.
Mr C. Wyatt
He carries a long box with him that contains the dead body of his wife.
The Count
A mummy who is brought back to life.
Roderick Usher
A young man, who dies because of the terrors in his house.
Lady Madeline
She is buried alive in the cellar of her house.
Fortunato
He mistreats Montres

Edgar Allan Poe (/poʊ/; born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. Widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
Born in Boston, Poe was the second child of two actors. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. Thus orphaned, the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia. Although they never formally adopted him, Poe was with them well into young adulthood. Tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar repeatedly clashed over debts, including those incurred by gambling, and the cost of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. Poe quarreled with Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name. It was at this time his publishing career began, albeit humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". With the death of Frances Allan in 1829, Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement. Later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point and declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer, Poe parted ways with John Allan.
Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among sever