An Ode To Poe

An Ode to Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is without question one of the greatest writers of all-time. He is also one of my biggest inspirations that got me into writing. From Masque of the Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia all the way to The Raven and among many countless others, Poe was a brilliant dark-minded individual who crafted heartbreak and suspense, two unlikely pairs and wove them into diabolical macabre tales that would have some proven effect on a reader. Poe was a mysterious and depressed man during his life, so it’s no wonder that he had such a grim and gloomy outlook on life. He would then take that outlook and, with his creative mind, write poems, stories, and articles about horror. To say Edgar Allan Poe doesn’t inspire most horror writers would be an insult and most likely a lie, as many writers, just like myself, felt the urge to write because of something they read by him. He wrote in such a way that it stayed with you long after reading. It touched you or moved you in such a way that you didn’t know it at the time, but you too wanted to write something just as beautifully dark and disturbing as Poe did. Poe’s work was not very well received during his lifetime, but like many before and after him, his work became more read, and he became more profound after his death.

I myself consider Poe to be one of my top three biggest writing inspirations. I had read many of his poems and short stories when I was a teenager, and while I had thought I forgot about them, the truth is I didn’t. Their thoughts of them always lingered within me, lying dormant until one day I decided I wanted to become a writer. When inspiration needed to be found, I dusted off the cerebral cobwebs in the corner of my brain and found Poe’s work there waiting to be rediscovered and ready to inspire a new writer to create dark words of art. The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart were two that I remember fondly as being catalysts for starting my direction into horror poetry. When it came time for me to write my first-ever book, I knew that it was going to be poetry and, most importantly of all, horror poetry. The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore isn’t just a book of horror poetry; it’s my own words and views of darkness and depression that were inspired by him. The book was and is my way of honoring the man who helped me craft my very own horror delights of penny dreadfuls. I paid homage to Poe in the only fitting way I knew how, to write a book about dark horror poetry just as dark and twisted as his. Thank you, Mr. Poe, for without your works, I may not have decided to pick up a pencil and paper and write my first horror poem.

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