Edgar Allan Poe Born in Boston in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was the possessor of one of the most original imaginations the world has ever known. The inventor of the modern detective story, a master of the tale of horror, a poet of haunting melody, Poe has gripped the intellect, the emotions, and the esthetic impulses of the world's readers for over a century. Great Tales and Poems Here, in one volume, are the masterpieces of mystery, terror, humor, and adventure, and the finest lyric and narrative poetry of the ill-fated genius who was one of America's supreme writers.