The Raven
The poem that made him famous, in nine minutes. Our most-played Poe.
9 min · read by Anthony Pica
0:00
2:09
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Edgar Allan Poe
The American master of the macabre and the inventor of the detective story.
1809–1849 Horror - GothicHorrorMystery
About
Who was Edgar Allan Poe?
Edgar Allan Poe wrote the first modern detective story, some of the best-known horror stories in English, and "The Raven", the poem that made him famous almost overnight. He did it all in a short, hard life that ended at 40.
His life
Poe was born in Boston in 1809 to two traveling actors. Before he turned three his father had left and his mother had died, and he was taken in by John and Frances Allan, a merchant family in Richmond, Virginia. He never got along with John Allan. Poe left the University of Virginia in debt after one year, served in the army under a false name, and was thrown out of West Point in 1831.
He spent the rest of his life trying to live by his pen, which almost no American writer could do then. He worked as an editor and critic for magazines in Richmond, Philadelphia and New York, and he was often poor. In 1836 he married his young cousin, Virginia Clemm. Her death from tuberculosis in 1847 hit him hard. Two years later he was found delirious in a Baltimore street and died four days later, on October 7, 1849. No one knows for sure what killed him.
His work
Poe believed a story should be short enough to read in one sitting, with every sentence working toward a single effect. That is why so many of his tales are perfect for a single listen. He wrote of guilt that won't stay buried ("The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Black Cat"), of revenge ("The Cask of Amontillado"), of madness and decay ("The Fall of the House of Usher") and of death itself ("The Masque of the Red Death").
In 1841 he invented a new kind of story. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" brought in C. Auguste Dupin, a brilliant amateur who solves a crime by reasoning, told by his admiring friend. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson came more than forty years later, from the same pattern.
Why he still matters
Horror, mystery and science fiction writers still borrow from Poe. The top award for American mystery writing is called the Edgar in his honor. His stories also work beautifully read aloud: he wrote for rhythm and sound, and a good narrator can make the hair on your neck stand up in fifteen minutes.
All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream.
New to Edgar Allan Poe?
Start here
The Raven
The poem that made him famous, in nine minutes. Our most-played Poe.
9 min · read by Anthony Pica 
The Tell-Tale Heart
A murderer swears he is not mad. The classic Poe story, and a short one.
19 min · read by Christopher Mireider
0:00
2:45
The Purloined Letter
Detective Dupin at his best: the clue hidden in plain sight.
48 min · read by Richard Stibbard
0:00
3:55
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The Raven, the Academy Voices Edition
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The Tell-Tale Heart, the Academy Voices Edition
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Listen to Edgar Allan Poe
A Descent into the Maelstrom
Narrated by Phil Thompson
A weathered Norwegian fisherman takes a stranger to a cliff above the sea and tells how he once survived the Maelstrom, a huge whirlpool off the Lofoten coast. His boat w...
0:00
4:05
Ligeia
Narrated by Christopher Mireider
The narrator cannot remember how he met Ligeia. He only remembers her: tall, dark, learned beyond any scholar he had known, with eyes unlike any others. When she dies, he...
0:00
4:28
Metzengerstein
Narrated by Christopher Mireider
Two noble families in Hungary have hated each other for generations. When the old Count of one house dies in a fire, the young heir, Frederick Metzengerstein, becomes mas...
0:00
2:22
The Assignation
Narrated by Christopher Mireider
In Venice at night, a woman leans from a palace window as her baby slips from her arms and falls into the canal. A stranger in a cloak dives in and saves the child. Then...
0:00
2:26
The Black Cat
Narrated by Vincent Caruso
A man tells the story of his descent from a gentle husband and animal lover into a drinker and a brute. His cat Pluto is the first victim of his rage, and then another ca...
0:00
2:42
The Cask of Amontillado
Narrated by Phillip Nathaniel Freeman
Montresor has put up with Fortunato's insults for a long time. When Fortunato goes too far, Montresor decides to get even. During the carnival, he meets his enemy in the...
0:00
4:45
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Narrated by Gid Newell
A man has long wanted to test one idea: can a person be held in the moment of death? His subject is M. Valdemar, a friend who is dying of consumption. He asks Valdemar, w...
0:00
3:57
The Fall of the House of Usher
Narrated by Rob Sogomonian
The narrator rides to the lonely, crumbling house of his boyhood friend Roderick Usher, who has written to ask for help. Roderick is ill, nervous and afraid. His sister M...
0:00
4:30
The Masque of the Red Death
Narrated by Phillip Nathaniel Freeman
A plague called the Red Death is killing the land. Prince Prospero, instead of helping, gathers a thousand friends in a walled abbey, locks the gates, and throws a masque...
0:00
4:18
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Narrated by Tony J Martin
Two women are found dead in a locked room on a Paris street, one of them in a horrifying state. The police are baffled. An amateur reasoner named C. Auguste Dupin takes a...
0:00
4:12
The Mystery of Marie Roget
Narrated by Tony J Martin
In Paris, a young shop girl, Marie Roget, goes out for a walk and never comes home. Days later her body is found in the Seine. The police have no answers, and the newspap...
0:00
4:55
The Oval Portrait
Narrated by Etombè Edembe
A wounded traveler takes shelter for the night in an abandoned chateau in the Apennines. In a small turret room he finds a book that describes the paintings on its walls....
0:00
1:54
The Pit and the Pendulum
Narrated by Nathan Edwards
A prisoner is condemned by the Inquisition in Toledo. He wakes in total darkness, not knowing whether he is in a cell, in a tomb or somewhere worse. He feels his way alon...
0:00
4:32
The Purloined Letter
Narrated by Richard Stibbard
A letter has been stolen from the royal apartments, and the thief uses it to blackmail a lady of the court. The police search the thief's rooms again and again and cannot...
0:00
3:55
The Raven
Narrated by Anthony Pica
On a bleak December midnight, a man sits in his study, grieving the lost Lenore. A tapping comes at the window and a raven walks in. The bird speaks one word only: Neverm...
0:00
2:09
The Tell-Tale Heart
Narrated by Christopher Mireider
The narrator insists he is not mad. He loved the old man he lived with, he says, but the old man's pale, vulture-like eye was more than he could bear. Night after night h...
0:00
2:45
The thousand-and-second tale of Scheherezade
Narrated by Merrie Lynn Eaker
Poe’s wickedly funny extra night of Arabian Nights finds Sinbad meeting modern marvels the king calls lies. Merrie Lynn Eaker’s narration delivers a sharp, sparkling sati...
0:00
4:40
The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal
Narrated by Christopher Mireider
In the city of Rotterdam, a bellows-mender named Hans Pfaall is deep in debt. One day the people of the town look up to see a strange balloon descending from the sky, and...
0:00
4:24
Life in dates
Edgar Allan Poe's life
- 1809
Born in Boston on January 19 to actors David and Eliza Poe.
- 1811
His mother dies; John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia, take him in.
- 1827
Publishes his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, and joins the army.
- 1831
Dismissed from West Point.
- 1836
Marries his cousin Virginia Clemm.
- 1839
"The Fall of the House of Usher" appears.
- 1841
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue", the first modern detective story.
- 1843
"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat".
- 1845
"The Raven" makes him famous.
- 1847
Virginia dies of tuberculosis.
- 1849
Dies in Baltimore on October 7, aged 40.
Questions
Questions about Edgar Allan Poe
What is Edgar Allan Poe best known for?
His poem "The Raven" (1845), his horror stories such as "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Fall of the House of Usher", and for inventing the modern detective story with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841).
Which Edgar Allan Poe audiobook should I start with?
"The Raven" takes nine minutes and is his most famous work. For a story, start with "The Tell-Tale Heart" (about 19 minutes). For mystery, try "The Purloined Letter".
Where can I listen to Edgar Allan Poe audiobooks narrated by real people?
Academy Voices has 18 Poe audiobooks, each performed by a real narrator, with a free sample on every one. Every recording is Certified Human Voice.
Are Edgar Allan Poe's works in the public domain?
Yes. Poe died in 1849, and all of his writing is in the public domain. Each audiobook recording is a new performance by its narrator.
How did Edgar Allan Poe die?
No one knows for certain. He was found delirious in Baltimore on October 3, 1849, and died four days later without explaining what had happened.
Reviewed October 2026 by the Academy Voices team. Sources: Poe Society of Baltimore, Wikipedia .
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