Edgar Allen poe

[abbierakes]

Some of Hawthorne would be good. I suspect you'd also greatly like Matthew Lewis (author of The Monk), Charles Maturin (Melmoth the Wanderer), and Lautreamont (Maldoror). Others of the past you might enjoy are William Godwin (St. Leon), William Bedford (Vathek), Horace Walpole (The Castle of Otranto), Thomas Love Peacock (Nightmare Abbey, Crotchet Castle), James Hogg (Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner), Anne Radcliffe (several), Jane Austen (Northanger Abbey only), and even Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights) and the Brothers Grimm.

The main American predecessor of Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne was Charles Brockden Brown. Although Wieland, or The Transformation is his best-known work, I think Edgar Huntly and Ormond are equally or more arresting and often better written.

I think you'd also like some Robert Louis Stevenson, esp. "The Suicide Club" and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Another author who might prove interesting is J.-K. Huysmans.

A couple of current authors you'd probably want to check out are Chuck Palahniuk and Will Self. Mark Leyner (My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist, etc.) is also pretty dark, demented, and sardonic, but I'm not sure you'll really remember his books once you've read them. But why not try 'em?

Just wanted to say thank you for all of the suggestions! I just happened to stumble onto this thread because I saw my favorite author's name. I will definitely have to check some of these out.

[Lyn_R]

Poe was my first lit love. His style changed lit forever and inspired so many to come after him. His stories and poems turned me on to a lifetime love of mystery and suspense. Too bad he didn't get the recognition during his lifetime.

[Wreade1872]

About a week ago, I finished reading Poe’s novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. It really, really made me appreciate the fact that he wrote mostly short stories, instead of novels. And then, when I found out Jules Verne wrote a sequel to 'Pym', I was super excited, but then terribly disappointed when I actually read it. Two of my favorite authors, and the two books were kind of a major let down... Had to go off and read a ton of H.P. Lovecraft, to remind myself why books are good things.

A bit of a late reply , but totally agree with everything said here. Actually though there is another unofficial sequel to Pym called 'A Strange Discovery by Charles Romyn Dake'. I read it as part of my things referenced in the 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' comics boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=92 ... st92732193 reading list.
Anyway 'A Strange Discovery' is a little better than the original or Vernes work but i'm not sure what genre it is, utopian fiction maybe.

Someone mentioned a couple of books by Thomas Love Peacock, those are awesome! but they're comedies so i can't say i'd recommend them too much for Poe fans.

Oh and i just wanted to give a plug to my favorite podcast http://hppodcraft.com . They cover a lot of short weird fiction including Poe. The free episodes are available on itunes aswell.

[michelleNYclassics]

Poe was my first lit love. His style changed lit forever and inspired so many to come after him. His stories and poems turned me on to a lifetime love of mystery and suspense. Too bad he didn't get the recognition during his lifetime.

Indeed, I relate whole-heartedly. Poe, too, was my first love. I came upon The Raven after falling into that time in many a-teen girl's life when she feels too self-important to connect with the mundane real-world and so finds herself sort of intentionally withdrawing. (This is likely where the ever-expanding collection of YA vampire/werewolf novels retrieves its endless source of energy). Suddenly there's a fascination with the dark and macabre. Into the spotlight steps Poe and he like totally speaks to us, who are presently shunning the pathetically superficial world.

But then, I found, he works his way in beneath the "world-is-blah" phase. He sticks. Even after we get over ourselves and move into adulthood reconnected once again to our fellow humans, Poe remains. I think there's just something within all of us that will ever find intrigue in the whispers of death and loss, hauntings and fear.

And I especially love that Poe's own life became just as tormented as his tales, ending in mystery and then continuing with supposed visits by his restless spirit. I enjoyed a trip to Baltimore a few years back to visit Poe's grave along with some of his favorite "haunts" [pun intended]. Sitting on a stool bellied up to the bar at "The Horse You Came In On" in Fells Point, one can almost feel the breath of this tortured writer breathing at the back of your neck.