Since their first publication in the 1830s and 1840s, Edgar Allan Poe's extraordinary Gothic tales have established themselves as classics of horror literature and created many of the conventions that still dominate the genre of crime fiction today. However, alongside their high entertainment value, Poe's stories are works of very real intellectual exploration. By abandoning the criteria of characterization and plot in favor of blurred boundaries between self and others, will and morality, identity and memory, Poe uses the Gothic to question the integrity of human existence. In fact, Poe is less interested in solving mysteries or enacting moral retribution than in uncovering the misunderstandings that make things appear mysterious from the outset. This critical edition, which considers the historical and political dimensions of these very American tales, selects twenty-four stories and highlights the most popular ones.