This is my first time reading Edgar Allan Poe's stories and I can describe it as an absolutely terrifiying and mind-blowing experience. I honestly just know the name Edgar Allan Poe through references from other books like Sherlock Holmes. At first, I expected some detective stories like Conan Doyle's, and I certainly had it and more.
The Raven Stories & Poems is actually a collection of short stories and poems. It consists of stories of Metzengerstein, Berenice, Hop-Frog, Annabel Lee, and many more. Each story has diverse plot with different characters and settings. But after reading two or three stories, I couldn't help but noticed the similar amazing writing style that the writer poured into each story. How the words of the writings make a clear picture of the story, emotions, characters, and the world that the writer are trying to tell for us, the readers.
My favorite stories of the book are The Man of the Crowd and The Gold-Bug. The Man of the Crowd is about a man who was just regaining his health from a certain disease and had a great interest for the people around him, as he couldn't do so when he was sick. The story began when some random man piqued his interest because of his strange behaviours; so he followed the strange man to satisfy his curiousity. The story has a really unexpected ending; which I think arguably is the most interesting ending of stories I've ever read.
The second story, The Gold-Bug is my second favorite; it has a familiar story structure that most of Sherlock Holmes's stories have, which I enjoy very much. It's a story about a man who found a golden bug which his butler thought was cursed, and the story follows his doctor friend and his butler as they investigated his strange behaviours and blamed the cursed golden bug for it. It's a clever story with intense mystery and satisfying revelation. If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes, you're definitely gonna like it.
Overall, what I like the most about Edgar Allan Poe's writings is how it make me feel after reading the story. You start with one question about what is going on in the story, and you're left out with more questions after. To me, this really takes a masterful writing skill.
