I just wanted to give this a shot because it is a classic fall read. I enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting. I understand why people like it and Poe's work. ( )

Un cuento clásico con una enorme influencia desde su creación y una construcción prodigiosa de la atmósfera. Me sigue pareciendo magnífico por muchas veces que lo lea. Buena edición con excelentes ilustraciones. ( )

I'm a big EAP fan, but realized I hadn't read the title story yet! So that's why I picked this up! And what better time of the year to read Poe? This collection is dang good, but I didn't give it 5 stars because two of the stories were kind of lame, and very un-Poe like. Neither "The Balloon Hoax" nor "Diddling" seemed to belong in this book, as neither were creepy or thrilling. They should either not have been included, or two different stories that matched the theme of the rest of the collection should have been substituted. But apart from that, I was very satisfied with the read! ( )

Kind of a hit or miss collection. There were a few stories that I found really dull to read, but I really enjoyed the title story, "The Fall of the House of Usher", along with "The Black Cat", and all the classic Poe tales, "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Masque of the Red Death", etc. Poe is a master at delving into the dark psychological recesses of the human mind.

I also really liked the Dupin tales, which reminded me a lot of Sherlock Holmes-- makes sense since apparently Poe's Dupin provided the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective. "Diddling" was also an interesting find, it's more of an exposition than a story but I enjoyed all the descriptions of the various cons.

Poe's only full-length novel, "Narrative of A. Gordon Pym", was a real disappointment. An adventure story and travelogue, it didn't have as much excitement as I was expecting despite having a couple sea voyages with humans braving against the forces of nature, a mutiny, cannabalism, a mysterious island and an encounter with an unknown culture. Naturally, Poe does a great job describing the despair of being lost at sea, sick and starving, and all the mental distresses of the main character in bleak times. The emotions and agonies are felt so viscerally in his writing. Much of the story, though, is bogged down by dry descriptions of the technical aspects of sea voyages, and I found myself skimming through those to get to more interesting parts. ( )

This compilation of short stories include some of Poe's most famous works. They include adventures, including one short story, "A Descent into the Maelstrom", and one novella, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym", which involve man against the transitory and chaotic nature of the sea. I would imagine that the sea for 19th century sailors and travelers could be a source of horror. The others involve horrible situations that characters find themselves, included bound on a table with a bladed pendulum, slowly descending, swinging back and forth "The Pit and the Pendulum", or being walled alive within brick masonry, "The Cask of Amontillado." My favorite in this grouping was "The Black Cat" about a guilt-ridden man is haunted by a black cat who he victimized and leads a murderous conclusion. Several of these stories were translated into horror films I loved at Saturday matinees as a boy. ( )