CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ 2 EDGAR ALLAN POE AND ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE ....................... 3 DUPIN VS HOLMES ...................................................................... 5 AGATHA CHRISTIE, THE LEGEND OF THE DETECTIVE STORY . . 8 CLIVE BARKER AND EDGAR ALLAN POE .......................................12 THE MONSTROUS FANTASY ...................................................12 STEPHEN KING AND EDGAR ALLAN POE ........................................15 CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................19 LITERATURE .......................................................................................... 20

INTRODUCTION

Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore of never-nevermore. E. A. Poe: The Raven Who would ever think that the man who wrote these lines actually wrote his own destiny. The words unhappy, unmerciful, disaster, burden, melancholy and never-nevermore clearly depict the life of a mastermind who lived and died in misery. The magical, mystycal and dark world of Edgar Allan Poe left a mark on our world. He was a genius. A brilliant man who created more that thousands of poems and short stories. He was the father of the detective story and he was the first man ever who melted the deductive thinking and philosophy in one and used it to create something that will stay forever and will never go out of fashion. On Edgar Allan Poes work, a lot of later generations founded their own creativity and fantasy, and who are the most read and bestselling writers of today. In this short summarium, I will present four of the master writers, who followed and cherished the heritage of the father of the detective story and the creator of dark poetry, and by doing so, left their mark on the readers in the past and in the future.

EDGAR ALLAN POE AND ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

Poe is, to my mind, the supreme original short story writer of all time. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Through the Magic Door Doyle himself was an admirer of Edgar Allan Poe, although in this modern world where everything is tossed and turned, a lot of people claimed otherwise. According to some respected critics Doyles only mistake was, that he was born half a century after Poe. That is why Poe is claimed to be an originator of the modern police story and the first man who popularized the inductive method. However, Doyle is not far behind Poe. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never thought that his detective-character, Sherlock Holmes, would be so popular one century later. Nowadays lot of people dont even know who E. A. Poes detective is, who inspired so many other writers in their detective stories. Poes five tales of this type set down the general principles of the detective story, which suceeding writers in the genre followed. Ever since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle followed Poes ground-breaking effort in the field with Sherlock Holmes, surelly the best known fictional detective. That is why when you mention the name Sherlock Holmes, almost everyone will know who you mentioned, because he is based on a simply unique and one of a kind person, character, who was born in the very curious mind of a genius writer Edgar Allan Poe. Poe created the Parisian detective C. August Dupin. The French detective Dupin, is little remembered today, but his spirit lives on in the most famous and succesful of consulting detectives, Sherlock Holmes. As Watson to remark to Holmes you remind me of Edgar Allan Poes Dupin. Dupin and E. A. Poe were to strongly influence Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the creation of Sherlock Holmes. The opening pages of the second Dupin story The purloined letter is pure Holmes, Watson and Lestrade. (Author unknown)

As the unknown author mentions in this fragment above, Dupin is not very well remembered. But the character lines between these two detectives are clearly seen. The only difference between Poe and Doyle is the difference in the way of thinking. Poe in his stories describes not only mystycal and unnaturally scary things, but leads the course of action into an unbelievably complicated situation. But in the end he always finds a solution so rational, logical and acceptable, that it leads the reader to the edge of his sound mind. Doyle, on the other hand, describes various crimes but in a little more suitable way, and closer to the reader. With Doyle, the reader doesnt have to question his sound mind, and doesnt have to go to the edge of hell, to find the perfect solution. Doyle writes about criminal cases like we read in the newspaper, while Poe on the other hand, shows and describes the absolutelly logical path of the human thinking to the reader, and leads us to the conclusion which we have never exptected. This difference can be clearly seen in the characters themselves. C. Auguste Dupin is a typical Parisian. Educated, deep-read and sophisticated. He enjoys things like long night walks thinking and showing his brilliant mind. Poe created Dupins character based on a man who is imaginative but not fanciful and that is why The ingenious are always fanciful, and the truly imaginative never otherwise than analytic (Murders in the Rue Morgue). This way of thinking, very close to philosophy, is widly used in the 19th century, and Poe being so imaginative as he was, observed the people around him, read the newspaper, and came to some very interesting ideas about creating these stories, which he called Tales of ratiocination (the process of exact thinking) and the first five tales, in which Dupin solves unbelievable crimes, and becomes the forefather of the detective story. Sherlock Holmess literary forefather was E. A. Poes C. Auguste Dupin, however Doyle based the character of Holmes on real life persons. One of them was Dr. Joseph Bell, Doyles teacher in the university of Edinburgh, Joseph Bell, master of observation and deduction. Another model for the detective was Eugne Francois Vidoq, a former criminal, who became the first chief of the Sret, on the principle of set a thief to catch a thief. Holmess character has inspired many later writers to continue his adventures. (Author unknown)

DUPIN VS HOLMES So the difference between Dupin and Holmes is that one of them is based on a real person. So what are the similarities? Dupin is French, Holmes is English, Dupin is sophisticated, Holmes is the typical English gentleman. However, they are more alike than we think. Dupin solves a crime by careful observing the evidence and thinking about it, and thats exactly what Holmes is doing: observing, considering, thinking, the three things which are elementary to solve the crime. But, Dupin is doing this very carefuly leading one thing to another, backwardly , and comes to conslusions. Holmes is doing it by following a few simple laws of logic, deduction that is. When we think deductively, we observe a group of things which have simillar or the same attributes, and thats how we conclude a judgement. Dupin is a philisopher, Holmes, on the other hand, is more affected to logic. The arrogance comes through in his disdainful treatment of the Parisian perfect as well like Doyles Sherlock Holmes, it is this forward arrogance that makes these characters so heroic and fascinating, in many ways the reader remains as awestruck as the narrator upon hearing the microscopic scrutiny with which Dupin views the world, the fact that Dupin had followed the narrators internal thought processes merely by observing his external behaviors clearly evidences this fact. These characters remain arrogant but unflawed, contradicting the age-old ideal of tragic hubris, that one must live humbly. Like Holmes, Dupin knows little humility; he is extremely talented, and he uses these abilities to their furthest extent again, it is this perfection that makes these fictional detectives so appealing. (Author unkonwn) What else is common to Dupin and Holmes? The narrators. In murders in the Rue Morgue, Dupin is described by the writer himself, who didnt gave himself a name, but who faithfully describes Dupins achievements in the field of criminal. In the murders in the Rue Morgue the narrator spends quite some time with Dupin in Paris, until a moment, when Dupin stuns his companion with a simple sentence, He is a very little fellow, thats true, and would do better for the Theatre des Varietes, which was the answer to the narrators current reflections. For those who hadnt read this story, this is probably rather confusing. The explanation is very simple, and Dupin explained to his companion how he got
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to that moment, when he answered to the other mans thought, guessing exactly what he was thinking about. Not many people can follow their way of thinking backwards, however the explanation for this sentence lies in backwards thinking. Movements of the face, talks before the moment of revelation, everything is important and logical. As I sad before, one thing leads to another, thats how Dupin knew what his companion is thinking about. In this moment in the story, Dupin and the narrator are walking down the street. Fifteen minutes earlier a fruitcarrier ran by them, nearly dropping a basket full of apples on the narrators head. And the following conclusions go like this: fruitcarrier, the street stones, stereotomy, Epicurus, Dr. Nichols, Orion, Chantilly (the little guy). How do these things explain anything? Simple, the fruitcarrier hurried by with a basket of apples on his head, he thrust upon the narrator on a pile of pavingstones lying there in one spot where the causeway is undergoing repair. The narrator stepped on one of the fragments, slipped and nearly fell, but afterwards he proceeded quetly. He was observing the holes and ruts in the pavement unsatisfactedly nodding with his head, until they reached an alley which was paved with some overlapping and riveted blocks. Here he brightened and murmured the word stereotomy, a term used to the species of pavement. Dupin knew that his companion couldnt say the word stereotomy without thinking on atoms and the theory of Epicurus, which they discused not long ago, and about the vague guesses of this noble Greek on nebular cosmology, and this forsed the narrator to look up on the Orion, which was the thing that Dupin expected. After this Dupin quoted a latin line, which was a reference to Orion, and of which the two of them discussed earlier in the theater, when the actor, Chantilly, quoted it in his play. Chantilly is a small man, who doesnt fit in the Musee, because he looks rather comical, because of his hights and this is what made Dupin to say that line with which he amazed his companion, as well as the reader. Sherlock Holmes in the Baskerville Hound also has quite a moment, when he reveals the murderer Mr. Stapleton. The special part which I liked is the part when Holmes sets a trap to catch the murderer. He sent his companion Dr. Watson, the narrator who faithfully writes down Holmess most famous crimes, not hiding his admiration to his teacher, to Baskerville Hall with Mr. Henry Baskerville, to lighten up the death of Mr. Henrys uncle Charles. According to the old family legend, Sir Charles was killed by the terrible Baskerville hound, who killes all the male heirs of Baskerville Hall. Holmes wouldnt be Holmes if he didnt doubt in such an absurd idea. He accepted the case, and solved it in a rather curious way. The strangest thing of all, is that in this, according to some, A. C. Doyles most famous book, Watson is more the central character who talks to people and gets clues which he sends to Holmes
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in London, but Holmes is not there, he is very near to Baskerville Hall, setting up a trap to the murderer. In the end A. C. Doyle surprises us with a terrifying scene of chase and death of the murderer by his own creation, the hound which is bigger than any hound weve ever seen. Doyle created Watson according to himself, just like Poe, but he gave the narrating character a name, which wasnt Poes case. From these facts, we can clearly see, that Poe inspired one of the most famous detective writers of all time, A. C. Doyle. Doyle himself said that he owes quite a lot to the icebraker Poe, who created this kind of storytelling, writing. If every man who receives a cheque for a story which owes its springs to Poe were to pay a tithe to a monument for the master, he would have a pyramid as big as that of Cheops. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Not only Doyle, but the reading audience also dues a lot to Edgar Allan Poe, because without him, we wouldnt have anything good and interesting to read. Doyle is not the only one who followed Poes footsteps, there are a lot of others like Dostojevskij, Baudelaire and the next writer who is often called the master of the detective story: Agatha Christie.

AGATHA CHRISTIE, THE LEGEND OF THE DETECTIVE STORY

Agatha Christie was a realy great woman, and probably the only woman who became a legend in the field of criminal writing thanks to Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle. She was very lucky because she had footsteps to follow in this field, she did it and became a writer to which millions are admiring, just like to Poe and A. C. Doyle. We will never know what Poe would think about Mrs. Christie, but I think he would be proud, proud of the fact that he influenced so many writers to turn to this genre, and create something everlasting and evergreen. Even in todays life we can find examples that crimes can be solved, lives can be saved thanks to Mrs. Christies books. Recently I read that a young girls life was saved thanks to Mrs. Christies description of a very rare poisoning with a chemical supstance. A nurse who was a very big fan of Mrs. Christie, recognized the symptoms of this kind of poisoning thanks to the description in Mrs. Christies book, and saved the life of the little girl. So, as we can see, we really owe a lot to Agatha Christie, just like to Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. Poe prooved us that inspiration can be found on every step of our life, we just have to reach and use it in the best way we can. Agatha Christie reached and found inspiration in Dupin and in Sherlock Holmes and created the everlasting Miss Marple, who I think is the reflection of the writer herself, and the probably very well known Mr. Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective, who used to be the chief of the police, but after his retirement he became a private investigator, who helps the weak, punishes the crime and always does it with a friendly face and a cheerful character. Unlike Dupin Poirot is relaxed, has a very different view of life, enjoys little things just like Dupin, but something a little bit more exceptable than long night walks and living like a vampire, always in darkness, because like Dupin said: Darkness is relaxing, and a lot of relevant revelations come to light in darkness. Poirot enjoys a good drop, likes to cook, and also likes to show the brilliantness of his little grey brain cells.

Agatha Christie does the same in her own stories featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, assistant Hastings, outperforming inspector Japp. These characters remain popular in both literature and television today, although few recall that it was Poes Auguste Dupin who really laid the foundation for these tales that would follow. (Author unknown) This quote is a continuation (prolongation) of the quote in the text before about Dupins arrogance as the author said, even if Poirot is more like Holmes, he owes his roots to Poe, who first thought of ratiocination stories, and brought them to life. He composed the first detective stories featuring the infinatly observant Auguste Dupin, before Doyles Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie criticized Poe, but only passivly, through her works, through Poirot who wrote his Magnum opus in the book The third girl, where he said: I dared to speak sharply and critically about Poe. There are probably more of these critical thoughts in various books, which reflects Mrs. Christies disagreement with some of Poes thoughts and ideas, and her leaning towards Doyle, where we can see that inspector Japp, who is the cheaf inspector of the Scotland Yard, has the exact same roll as Lestrade in the works of Doyle. The only difference is that Japp enjoys working with Poirot, and always praises him, but never for Poirot to hear, while Lestrade always tries to outperform Holmes and Watson. As far as Watsons concern, Poirot also has a narrator, who is his faithful companion and works with him as a private investigator, captain Hastings. Captain Hastings used to be a soldier in the war, but afterwards he dedicated himself to investigating crimes, and figuring out Poirots way of thinking, the uniqe method, with which he solves even the impossiblest crime of them all. Poirot with a smile on his face, sets up traps for the criminals, women and men equaly, it doesnt matter who they are, rich or poor, pretty or ugly, what matters is that they all have something in common, the crime. For Poirot crime is a crime mon ami, no matter who commits it. Miss Marple on the other hand is a sick little, old woman, who misleeds everyone with her look. Under that fragile body is a strong and vivid soul, a shining mind which she uses to help if an impossible situation poppes out. My oppinion is that Miss Marple is really an alusion to Poes wife Virginia Clemms, who was also very sick, but this never bind her to help her husband in his moments of writing blocade. This only showes that Mrs. Christie felt sorry for Poe and his cursed and unhappy life, but also that this inspired her to create the first woman detective, who became a legend in the history of detective stories.
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Miss Marples physical appearance confuses even the most careful and observant criminal. She can easily get close to her victim, leading him or her to a carefully set up trap and pushing him or her into it. She is a very sympathic, old grandmother, so everybody loves her, and her work becames easier this way. The traps are a very good touch in Mrs. Christies books, equal to the ones in Doyles works, only carefully considered and planed. And a nice touch from Poe, you never know who the murderer is, right to the end of the book. None of these thoughts are confirmed by respected critics, but the thrilled audience talk themselves: You cannot describe or better yet, review about a thousand pages in a two liner. Poe has affected so many writers, some of whom are: R. L. Stevenson, A. C. Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Agatha Christie and so many others. Not only did Poe edit and provide critical reviews for very succesful magazines, but he also invented the modern detective story. While living in Philadelphia, Poe went from the high of being a popular lecturer to the despair of learning that his wife Virginia was ill with tuberculosis. This tossed him into drinking, and after his brief and tragic life, left a legacy for others to continue. This legacy was excepted and cherished by so many writers today: A. C. Doyle, Agatha Christie, Stephen King and others. The adventures of Sherlock Holmes prooved so popular that it became a given that mystery tales should include a sleuth who investigates a murder or other crime, and by virtue of intelligence, ratiocination and perseverance solves a case that initially seemed unsolvable. In this way Sherlock Holmes somehow begat Agatha Christie (the moment of conception is still shrouded in mystery, as the occurrence of sex in crime fiction has, until recently, been taboo) and the whole school of what is now seen as the Golden Age of British crime fiction. (from: Amazon-books.com) Of course, we know that Agatha Christie gave birth to Miss Marple, and the famous Hercule Poirot. She wrote of an England that reflected her class, and succeeded magnificently in entertaining readers the world over with innumerable genteel murders amongst the privileged classes the butler in the wings while the dirty deeds are done and the tale concluded when the
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sleuth assembles protagonists and suspects at the vicarage to theatrically unveil the guilty party. Sleight of hand and tea at four: a world of orphans, ineffectual country policemen and a cosy view of crime long dominated the scene. (By: Maxim Jakubowski owner of Murder one Bookshop and a crime column writer for the Guardian.)

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CLIVE BARKER AND EDGAR ALLAN POE

One of the best known horror geniuses of the 20th century, who was numerously characterized as Edgar Allan Poes true heir in the field of gothic horror is Clive Barker. Clive Barker in his interviews never slips by without mentioning the name of his inspirator Poe. But even if he doesnt mention it, it is crystal clear that the roots of Barkers works lie deep in the past, in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was the first writer who dared to depict to the reader a humans side so dark, that it borders with madness. His poems like The Raven and Annabel Lee will never go out of fashion, as it describes the despair of losing someone close to us, such a close example of our todays. Berenice, Morella and Ligeia all deal with the deaths of beautiful women, the subject which Poe called the most poetical topic in the world (Van Doren Stern 191). Of course there are a lot of other poems in which he describes vampires, whitches, monsters coming out right from our most terryfying nightmares. Poe gave birth to creatures we see only in our dreams, and we would never dare to say anything about it, but not Poe, he approaches these monstruosities with an intention to examine it as closely as possible, and after that writing down everything going beyond our imagination, and scaring us like never before. The reason I described Poes method is that Barker is doing almost the same thing, with an exception, Barker describes these things in a spirit of the 20th century, making them even scarier than Poe. THE MONSTROUS FANTASY Barker and Poe started basically the same. Barker also began his career with short stories, which frightened the audience so much, that they demanded more. Barker wrote three volumes called the Books of Blood, in which he writes about ghosts, murderers, demons so vividly depicted, that after reading I just simply couldnt sleep without leaving the light on the entire night. These stories look a lot like Edgar Allan Poes The Imp of the Perverse, The Masque of the Red Death, The Black Cat and others, all of them describing murders, ghost, unnatural happenings like the extermination of the entire human race, a careful planning of a murder, demons and all the other goodies which the horror likers would definitely enjoy.

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In human nature there exists a morbid desire to explore the darker realms of life. As sensitive beings, we make every effort to deny our curiosity in the things that frighten us, and will calmly reassure our children that there arent any creatures under their beds each night, but deep down we secretly thrive on that cool rush of fear. Despite our efforts to maintain a balance of respectable emotions, we are a society of people who slow down to look at traffic accidents and find excitement in the macabre. We turn off the lights when watching scary movies, and when its time to go to bed, we secretly make sure the closet doors are shut. Fear keeps our hearts pumping and endorphin rushing, for it is an emotion that reminds us of our mortality. How ironic it is to experience more life in our fascination with death. (Written by: Janice Johnson) In Poes as well as in Barkers short stories. The strangest thing is that Clive Barker wrote a continuation of one of Poes stories, which contains very little gothic and horror inside. The Murders in the Rue Morgue the story which layed the foundation of the murder mystery also inspired Mr. Barker to write the story which fulfills the missing parts in this story, the really horrifying part. Barker wrote it when he was stuck in Paris with a friend of his, snowed in, and this simply started his fantasy and New Murders in the Rue Morgue was born. The Books of Blood probably the most famous work of Clive Barker, are differently accepted. Some people like them and some dont, but they all agree in one thing, there is definitelly something Poeish in all of these stories. The final story here is New Murders in the Rue Morgue, and it is almost surely the worst piece of fiction Clive Barker ever wrote. The protagonist is a retired artist and, so we are told, descendant of M. Dupin. Yes, we are led to believe, Edgar Allan Poe's classic story The Murders in the Rue Morgue was based on fact and not fancy, and now the modern representative of the Dupin blood finds himself mired in an extraordinary, eerily similar, and exceedingly ludicrous case of his own. The person who wrote this was clearly disappointed with the fact that Barker wrote New Murders in the Rue Morgue and with this piece of work dared to question the heritage of Edgar Allan Poe. Yes, there are people, who above all respect a century old tradition. But lets not look everything on the dark side, there are still thrilled readers who equally like E. A. Poe as well as Clive Barker.

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New Murders in the Rue Morgue, Clives own continuation of Edgar Allan Poes Murders in the Rue Morgue simply left me speechless. I have no words to describe the fantastic tension and the dark mystique of this work. The British-born Barker is widely-recognized as the leading current practitioner of the fantastique. Writer Stephen King once acknowledged Barkers talent, calling him so good that I am almost literally tongue-tied. He makes the rest of us look like weve been asleep for the past ten years. His sequel to Poes classic tale of deduction, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, focuses on the horrific implications and repressed sexuality of the original tale as experienced by a descendant of Poes detective Dupin. New Murders in the Rue Morgue was specially-illustrated for Graphic Classics: Edgar Allan Poe by one of Clives favourite artists, Mark Nelson. The story originally appeared in Books of Blood, the 1984 collection of short stories that first made Barker famous. He has since published twenty books, moving from the horror genre into fantasy, drama, and erotica. The eclectic author has also written plays, childrens books, and has directed feature films based on his stories. Another story, with which Clive started his career, is Wood on the hill. This story is important because some of the friends of Clive Barker have recognized the genius in him, and saw the similarity with Edgar Allan Poe. The wood on the hill was inspired by my favourite story by Edgar Allan Poe, The masque of the red death, and the sadness about a loss of my first tree. I was furious and I just wanted to wipe everyone off from the face of the earth, but instead the idea of a woman plotting against nature just sparked out. (Clive Barker, The dark fantastic) But Barker didnt stood in one place like Poe, he tried writing a lot of other things, like drama, childrens stories etc. However The Books of Blood dedicated secretly to Edgar Allan Poe will remain his greatest work, side by side with its inspirators works.

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STEPHEN KING AND EDGAR ALLAN POE

Stephen King is, I must admit, my most favourite writer of all times (excluding Edgar Allan Poe). His stories, books, movies, everything I read or watched so far, is inspired with strength, horror, love and imagination. Stephen King respects Edgar Allan Poe, because he knows, that Poe made the first step to make horror stories acceptable to the readers. He said himself: I know I owe a lot to Poe and many others, who layed the foundation of horror, gothic, mistery and dark poetry. (Stephen King, Short biography) I had the luck to find an essay, which compares the two masterminds and comes to the conclusion that they are the same, and yet so different from each other. Two legendary writers have ruled the universe of death and horror with remarkable success, both gifted with the talent of introducing each reader to his or her own subconscious fears. Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King are the masters of their craft, blessed- or perhaps cursed- with imaginations that set higher standards in the field of writing. Both authors broke new ground in fiction that has had a significant impact on the world of literature. Similar in quite a few ways, though contrasting in many others, this paper will explore the lives and styles of these two remarkable men, paying close attention to the differences that exist in their approaches to writing. (By: Janice Johnson) Since both Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe had very difficult lives, they were both living with their mothers, while young, but a rich man, John Allan, adopted later Poe where he wasnt loved, as he should have been. Stephen King on the other hand continued to live with his mother, and to support their families, both of them began to write. Poe struggled with the publishers and his work werent accepted the way they should have been, while on the other hand, King was never discouraged, refusal made him stronger in his attempt to succeed. In his autobiographical book, On Writing King recalls:

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By the time I was fourteen the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing (41). Perhaps this is where the core difference exists between Poe and King; one lacked a strong emotional foundation in his youth and went on to make disastrous choices, consequently keeping him out of reach of success within his lifetime. The other writer was brought up with encouragement, fostering a strong belief in his talents, which in the long run probably gave him an extra push toward the success hes experienced while still alive. (By: Janice Johnson) Another difference but in the same time a similarity between Poe and King is their interest in death. Both of them experienced the effects of drugs and alcohol, and this probably led them into some horrifying nightmare which they analized and come to some very curious assumptions. Later on (after he recovered from the addiction), in Kings stories the characters always nearly escape death, and live on with a horrible memory of their adventure, while Poe killes his characters and goes deep under exploring the very borders of death. Kings books are more optimistic, which showes his faith in life, while Poe rushed right into the open arms of Death himself. Poe and King both share an interest in horror, terror, death, and murder. Their many works reflect an imagination that most of their readers will only experience when dreaming at night. Death is a theme visited in more of Poes works, though. While many people (and things) have died in Kings stories, Poe takes death a step further and explores the processes and avenues of death. Nearly all of his works consisted of variations of a single theme. The Fall of the House of Usher is another tale focusing on death, and is probably his best known. Other stories that ponder the realms of death include The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, The Assignation, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Premature Burial. The inventory of Poes death-inspired works could go on for days. (By: Janice Johnson) Both King and Poe were severe addicts; only Poe lacked support and love from his family to struggle through the hell of addiction, while King had all the support he needed to overcome his problem. Yet, both of these writers
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wrote stories to remember, and this is how they tried to cry for help, through their work. King confesses in his book On Writing: The deep part of me that knew I was an alcoholic as early as 1975 wouldnt accept that. Silence isnt what that part is about. It began to scream for help the only way it knew how, through my fiction and through my monsters. In late 1985 and early 1986 I wrote Misery (the title quite aptly describing my state of mind), in which the writer is held prisoner and tortured by a psychotic nurse. This story unusually looks like Edgar Allan Poes The Pit and the Pendulum, where an unfortunate prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition is tortured, physically and psychically as well. This story is probably written when Poe was on the edge of sanity or in an alcoholic dream. In Kings early works, the characters rarely escape the evil which is stalking them, but this is only a cry for help, because King believed that he is not able to take the fight against the vice, but later on he began to gain faith, that he is going to succeed, and this inspired him to write a little more optimistic stories, in which the characters manage to escape death, but later on they must learn how to live with the memory of their adventure. In some of his earlier work, such as Carry, Cujo, and Salems Lot, Kings characters rarely overcome their struggle with evil. Even in his book of short stories, Night Shift, many of his main characters die untimely deaths. (Coincidently, these were written during the time of Kings alcohol and drug addictions.) In most of Kings later writing, though, there is a recurrent theme of a struggle and survival that is absent in many of Poes works. In The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon King has a young girl not only survive in the woods without food or shelter, but he also has her defeat the terrifying beast stalking her throughout the story. Poes The Masque of the Red Death is very similar to Kings The Stand, where both centre on the demise of an entire population by means of illness. However, Kings characters come together to build a better world and overcome the evil guy trying to do them in. Poes characters simply lock themselves behind the gates of a mansion and die painful deaths. (By: Janice Johnson)

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These two people deserve all of our admiration, because they struggled through life. One died young, because he couldnt deal with himself, because he was alone, while the other succeeded and continued. Two people so different, yet so alike left their mark on the world literature. Their lives melted in each other, opposite to the fact that they lived in different times. Their works will always be present and kept safe with other great names of our time. Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King where brought up in two very different worlds, yet somehow both of their imaginations slithered off into the murky depths of horror and death. One came from an affluent yet unsupportive home, and the other from a struggling family trying to make ends meet, nevertheless full of support and love for each other. Both battled addiction, although only one was successful in getting sober before it took control of him. They both eventually conquered the field of writing with admirable success, and even if Poes use of language may be difficult to understand in this day and age, his subject matter is just as timely as Kings is. They have followed the norms in style of their respective cultures and times, even though their themes dont exactly adhere to societys morality. They are different and stand out because of it. We may never know if any of this affected either writers ideas or successes, or if they simply were destined to write the way they have. What we do know is that as readers we will never be the same. The things that have secretly scared us since childhood are forever entrenched in the stories by these two great writers, and the subject of fear will never grow cold. (By: Janice Johnson)

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CONSLUSION

I have read a lot of critical essays and articles about Poe, and I must say some critics are good, some are bad. They vary, according to the taste of the audience and the critics themselves. Some say he was mad, some that he was a genius, but they all agree that he really left a mark on the world literature. His poems touch the soul and the heart and make them cry, because they describe all the despair and unhappiness of a lifetime, all the misery and bitterness one can experience. The detective stories are filled with mystery and noone knows where these mysteries are from? Perhaps from the writers life itself? Perhaps My oppinion is that he was a man with a very rich fantasy. He created worlds in his head just to destroy them, he scared people because they wanted to be scared. All of the other writers who followed his footsteps, were doing the same: they entertained the audience, but also showed them what they should never do, because eventually, theyll get caught. On the other hand, each one of them adopted little something from Poe, added something of their own and created the so called criminalistic and horror literature. You cannot review five of such excellent writers within 20 pages, you could write books and books but it simply wouldnt be enough, because were dealing with geniusus here, and to write down all of their fantasy would be simply impossible. I had a lot of help from www.amazon-books. com, who have an excellent choice of books downloadable from the Internet, and reviews and comments of their readers. I also used a lot of facts from the book of Isidora Sekuli, which provided me some interesting data on Poes life and work, and also Edgar Allan Poes collections of short stories and poems, which provided me with quality data on the writers choice of language and ideas.

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LITERATURE

www.amazon-books.com www.top-biography.com www.murder-mystery.com www.Stephen King.com www.Clive Barker.com Isidora Sekuli: Svetska knjievnost Edgar Allan Poe: Spirits of the Dead, Tales and Poems Edgar Allan Poe: The Purloined Letter Charles Baudelaire: Edgar Allan Poe, Life and Work

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