One of the most time honored writers in American history was also the one who laid the foundations for the Gothic genre. From his dark, dreary poems, to his nostalgic phrases, to his eerie short stories, there’s no doubt that Edgar Allen Poe has made an impact on our literary world. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where we’ve named awards after him, where works such as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and Annabel Lee have made their mark on the world. So just who was Poe anyway? What inspired him? And why is he so important to us?

Edgar Allen Poe was born during a time when the Romantic era was flourishing. He would often fight with his father because of the various affairs the man engaged in, standing up for his mother and pressing his often liberal ideas on him. Because medicine hadn’t advanced at the time, his mother unfortunately died of tuberculosis. Because his father had abandoned the family early on, Edgar had to live with his adoptive family, where he subsequently tried enrolling in a university. However, after failing, he decided to try to earn his living as a writer. The fact that international copyright laws didn’t exist made it especially hard for Poe to earn from his work, since other readers in Britain could simply read those copies for free. While he did publish many of his iconic works, he was later known for his literary criticisms. Despite that, it’s clear that his passion for writing hadn’t stopped; tragedies such as the death of his wife had assured that. Years later, he was found on the streets, wearing someone else’s clothes and chanting the name “Reynolds.” Not long after, he died. While many have speculated on the cause of his death, in the end it remains a mystery.

While it’s true that Poe had a sorrowful life, that life was what inspired a multitude of elements in his writing. For example, both his mother and his wife suffered from tuberculosis, which became the inspiration for The Masque of the Red Death. The death of his wife, as well as his slowly developing madness, also laid the grounds for what became The Raven. In fact, many of his works revolved around death, from the physical process of decaying, to the resurrection of the body. He would often place love interests in tragic circumstances, and used humor to try to make the reader see the ridiculousness of conformity. He would include extravagant imagery and the like, all the while luring the reader into a somewhat awkward position, right before destroying them.

As such, many agree that he was the one who popularized the Gothic genre. He became the father of the modern detective genre, and used the supernatural in many of his stories where both death and tragedy abound. It’s abundantly clear that while his life was plagued with alcoholism and death, they ended up becoming the inspiration for his writing, something many writers celebrate to this day.

Poe has often appeared in many different places, whether it be film, fiction, or plays. In When It Was Moonlight by Manly Wade Wellman, Poe is investigating a local case that leads him to a vampire in the area. In Lenore: The Last Narrative of Edgar Allen Poe by Frank Lovelock, the author explores Poe’s last days, and introduces a new love interest through a series of letters. The writer has been honored through monuments and museums, and continues to be cherished to this day.