Anyone here like Edgar Allan Poe??

[MikeyFingers]

I'm really hoping there is another fan of Poe's writing in here, I'd like a little help finding something in his stories.
I've owned a book of his works (complete collection of tales & poetry) since I was in high school, but until recently I had only skimmed through it. I don't know what possessed me, but over the last month I've been reading it constantly and falling more and more in love with his writing.
One of the things that surprised me was the presence of comedy. He is so overwhelmingly associated with horror and the macabre, that history seems to have overlooked his ability to make you laugh your ass off. I had no idea he wrote funny stories until I stumbled upon the story "How to Write a Blackwood Article" and it's companion story "A Predicament", and found myself LOLing.

Comedies I've read so far:
How to Write a Blackwood Article
A Predicament
Angel of the Odd
Loss of Breath
Devil in the Belfry (very misleading title)

If anyone here is a serious Poe reader, can you tell me the names of his other comedies? The book has over 1000 pages and there's no summary or notes on the short stories, so it's impossible to figure out the genre just by looking at the title.

[Jimmy Bones]

I love Poe, but I am inundiated in his classic horrors and tragedies.

[cdef]

He's got a satirical little story called X-ing a Paragrab which I thought was wild. Should be in there. - Otherwise, find it here.

[MatticusMania]

There are a large number of stories that are comedic while still being a bit macabre. I find most of his work to have a large sense of humor about it. I can't site any specific stories by name at the moment, but keep on reading. I also have one of the "Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allen Poe" books (there are a few different versions out there).

[wilser]

love poe, and ur right, his witty sense of humor is very aparent for anyone who is paying attention.

[santucci218]

i own the same book, but im more of a poem/ short story kinda guy.

[Bongolation]

Funny you should mention it; last week I had a strange dream I was investigating one of his newly-discovered New York lodgings with some researchers.

We found a bunch of money (which was odd as Poe was almost always broke) and in his book collection was one titled, Every Question Has Four Answers.

I became unstuck in time and went back to c.1850 New York, where I met a guy I used to do radio with in NYC when I was a DJ there. Someone was pestering him to take him somewhere and in their conversation he said, "I know I go to a posh school, but I live in a poor neighborhood," and Jim said, "I go to a poor school, but live in a rich neighborhood."

I had a hard time getting back out of the past.

Dreams are stranger than anything Poe wrote.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Dreams are stranger than anything Poe wrote.

Id say they are pretty much on par, only Poe uses lots more words.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by MikeyFingers

Comedies I've read so far:
How to Write a Blackwood Article
A Predicament
Angel of the Odd
Loss of Breath
Devil in the Belfry (very misleading title)
[...]
If anyone here is a serious Poe reader, can you tell me the names of his other comedies?

I have an allegedly "complete stories and poems" collection and they have twenty-five listed as "Humor and Satire":

The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.
Diddling
Mystification
The Man That Was Used Up
Mellonta Tauta
The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade
X-ing a Paragrab
The Business Man
A Tale of Jerusalem
The Sphinx
Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling
Bon-Bon
The Duc d'Omelette
Three Sundays in a Week
The Spectacles
Four Beasts in One
Never Bet the Devil Your Head
...and some of those you already mentioned.

There are also a bunch under "Flights and Fancies" that may or may not apply.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

Id say they are pretty much on par, only Poe uses lots more words.

Especially ones in French and Greek, which don't seem to figure much in mine at all.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

I think Maki might resemble Poe the closest around here.

[bassybill]

I love Poe's work - it's nice to read stuff from way back in time, when being clever was cool rather than nerdy. It's a shame just how much we've dumbed down in many ways since then.

I agree about some of the humour inherent in his work, but my favourite aspects are the detective type stuff. I particularly like his story, "The Gold Bug".