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. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and 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. "The Cask of Amontillado" "A Descent into the Maelström" "The Fall of the House of Usher" "The Gold-Bug" "The Masque of the Red Death" "The Imp of the Perverse" "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" "The Oval Portrait" "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" "The Oval Portrait" "The Pit and the Pendulum" "The Premature Burial" "The Purloined Letter" a. o.