"美国出了两个伟大的作家——埃德加·爱伦·坡和马克·吐温。"肖伯纳曾下此断语。可见爱伦·坡在美国文学以至整个世界文学中举足轻重的地位。他以《摩格街谋杀案》、《玛丽·罗杰谜案》、《被窃的信》及《金甲虫》等作品树立了推理小说的典范，又以描画"死之美"与"美之死"、极度的身体和心智病态、腐朽和死亡，以及对恐怖效果的刻意追求而独步文坛，为后世的恐怖小说开辟了道路。《摩格街谋杀案》选译了爱伦·坡各类题材的小说中较有代表性的作品以及他唯一一部可以算做长篇（未完）的小说，以期为无法读完他全部作品的读者提供一个相对精当的选本。（"USA witnessed two great writers, Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain." Bernard Shaw has made this judgment. Thus we can see the pivotal position of Allan Poe and American literature on the world stage of literature. He set a good example of mystery novels though the representative works including The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, The Purloined Letter and The Gold-Bug. By describing "beauty of death", "death of beauty", extreme physical and mental sickness, decay and death, together with his deliberate pursuit of horrific effects, he had its unique status in the literary world, and paved the way for future horror fictions. The Murders in the Rue Morgue is selected as a most representative work among Allan Poe's novels of various themes, which is his only full-length (unfinished) one, offering a relatively precise and appropriate anthology for readers who are unable to read all his works.）