The influence of Edgar Poe, an American poet, prose writer, journalist and critic, on world literature is very great. He is rightfully considered the founder of a new literary genre for his time - detective stories. More than one generation of poets has been fascinated by the magic of his poems. He was a man of brilliant talent and a sad fate that left its mark on his work. Mysterious stories in which it is difficult to draw the line between reality and fiction, an unsteady borderline state of mind when horror suppresses all other feelings, captivate the reader and make them believe in the inexplicable.