47 Edgar Allan Poe Books & Stories for Free! [PDF]

A fisherman gets caught in a giant whirlpool off the coast of Norway. A Descent into the Maelstrom shows how staying calm under pressure can save your life.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1841, blending real science with pure terror. It is a short, gripping tale that puts you right inside the storm.

Is anything in life truly real, or is it all slipping through your fingers like sand? A Dream Within a Dream is a short poem about loss, time, and the thin line between waking and dreaming.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1849, the same year he died. Every line carries a feeling you have probably felt but could not put into words.

Poe imagines a place between heaven and earth where beauty rules and fallen spirits wander. Al Aaraaf is one of his longest poems and a window into his young, ambitious mind.

Edgar Allan Poe published this when he was just twenty years old. The language is rich and dreamy, a perfect taste of early Poe.

Two people love each other so deeply that even the angels grow jealous. Annabel Lee is a beautiful, heartbreaking poem about a love that death cannot end.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this shortly before he died in 1849, possibly about his young wife. Once you read it, the rhythm and sadness will stay in your mind for days.

A man becomes obsessed with his cousin's teeth, and his fixation leads to something truly horrible. Berenice is one of Poe's darkest tales.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1835, and even he admitted it went too far. If you like horror that gets under your skin, this short story delivers.

A knight spends his life searching for the golden land of Eldorado, but the journey changes him. Eldorado is a short poem about chasing dreams and what you find at the end.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1849, the last year of his life. In just a few stanzas, he says more about hope and mortality than most writers say in a whole book.

A man lives in a beautiful valley with the woman he loves, but death takes her away. Eleonora is a tender story about grief, promises, and whether it is possible to love again.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1842, and many believe it reflects his own life. It is one of his most gentle works, showing a softer side of the master of horror.

Poe tries to explain the entire universe in one essay, from the birth of stars to the nature of God. Eureka is a wild, ambitious work where poetry meets science.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1848 and called it his greatest work. Some of his guesses about the cosmos turned out to be surprisingly close to modern science.

A king's jester has been bullied for years, and now he has a plan for revenge. Hop-Frog is a short, dark tale about what cruelty costs when the powerless fight back.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this story in just a few pages, but every word counts. The ending will leave you thinking about justice and anger.

Two drunk sailors stumble into a plague zone and meet a group of people who have crowned themselves royalty. King Pest is dark comedy at its wildest.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this as a strange mix of horror and humor. It's a quick read that shows the playful side of a writer known for scares.

A young woman has died, and the people who failed her in life now pretend to mourn. Lenore is a poem about grief that turns into anger at those who don't deserve to weep.

Edgar Allan Poe packs this short poem with emotion and music. Every line sounds like it was written to be read out loud.

A man's first wife dies and he can't stop thinking about her, and then strange things start happening. Ligeia is a haunting story about love, loss, and the refusal to let go.

Edgar Allan Poe considered this one of his best works. The ending is one of the most chilling moments in all of his writing.

A shipwreck survivor ends up on a ghost ship sailing toward the South Pole. MS. Found in a Bottle is a short, eerie tale about a voyage into the unknown.

Edgar Allan Poe won a prize for this story, one of his first published works. The sense of dread builds with every page until the final, strange moment.

A young baron becomes obsessed with a giant horse that appeared the night his enemy died. Metzengerstein is a creepy story about fate, fire, and things that can't be explained.

Edgar Allan Poe published this as one of his very first stories. The dark mood and strange events already show the writer he would become.

A man watches his wife fade away, and then something strange happens with their daughter. Morella is a brief, unsettling story about death that refuses to stay final.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this tale about identity and what passes from one life to another. It stays in your mind long after the last line.

A man with a bad habit of making wild bets meets someone who takes him up on one. Never Bet the Devil Your Head is a dark little comedy with a grim twist at the end.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this as a playful jab at critics who said his stories lacked morals. The humor is sharp, and the ending is pure Poe.

Dark, musical, and full of sorrow, these poems take you into a world of lost love, death, and haunted beauty. Poems collects some of Edgar Allan Poe's finest verse.

Edgar Allan Poe could make words sound like music. Once you read "The Raven" or "Annabel Lee," the rhythm will stay in your head for days.

A demon tells a tale about a man sitting alone in a strange, silent landscape. Silence is a short, eerie piece that creates a mood of dread with very few words.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this as more of a prose poem than a typical story. It is quick to read and perfect if you enjoy dark, atmospheric writing.

Murder, madness, and mystery fill these tales that helped invent the horror and detective genres. Stories by Edgar Allan Poe will keep you awake and turning pages into the night.

Edgar Allan Poe mastered the art of building tension in a short space. Each story is crafted to unsettle you and leave you wanting more.

Buried alive, haunted houses, and minds that slowly crack under pressure. Tales of Mystery and Imagination collects Edgar Allan Poe's most chilling and inventive stories.

Edgar Allan Poe knew how to get inside your head and stay there. This collection is the perfect starting point if you have never read Poe before.

This was Edgar Allan Poe's first major story collection, and it set the tone for everything that followed. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is where Poe's dark genius first came together in one book.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1839 to mixed reviews. Today, these stories are considered some of the best in American literature.

Written when Edgar Allan Poe was just eighteen, these early poems show a young writer already drawn to loss, power, and dark beauty. Tamerlane and Other Poems is where Poe's voice first appeared in print.

Edgar Allan Poe published this anonymously in 1827, and only about fifty copies were printed. Today it is one of the rarest and most sought-after books in American history.

Four types of bells mark four stages of life, from joy to death. The Bells is a poem where the sound of the words matters as much as their meaning.

Edgar Allan Poe made this poem ring and crash in your ears as you read it. Read it out loud and you'll hear why it's stayed famous for over 170 years.

A man swears he loved animals, but alcohol and rage turn him into something he can't recognize. The Black Cat is a short, dark tale about guilt that refuses to stay hidden.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this story in 1843, and the ending still shocks readers today. It's a quick read that will stay with you long after you finish.

A man lures his friend into a wine cellar with the promise of rare sherry, planning to leave him there forever. The Cask of Amontillado is cold revenge told in calm, polite words.

Edgar Allan Poe fits a whole nightmare into just a few pages. The narrator's voice is so calm that it makes the horror even worse.

A dying man is hypnotized at the moment of death, and something keeps him trapped between life and death for months. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar is one of Poe's most disturbing stories.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this so convincingly that some readers thought it was a true report. The final paragraph is one of the most horrifying endings in all of short fiction.

A crumbling mansion, a dying family, and a buried secret that won't stay buried. The Fall of the House of Usher is gothic horror at its finest, where the house itself feels alive and sick.

Edgar Allan Poe created an atmosphere so heavy you can feel it pressing down. This is one of the most famous horror stories in the English language, and it earns that reputation.

A man finds a gold-colored beetle and becomes convinced it will lead him to buried treasure. The Gold-Bug is a short tale of codes, clues, and a hunt that keeps you guessing.

Edgar Allan Poe loved puzzles, and this story helped make cryptography popular with everyday readers. It was one of his most widely read works during his lifetime.

A once-grand palace falls into darkness as evil takes hold of it. The Haunted Palace is a poem about a mind falling apart, told through the image of a ruined building.

Edgar Allan Poe hid deep meaning in just a few stanzas. This poem also appears inside his story The Fall of the House of Usher, and it works on its own as a haunting piece of verse.

Why do people do things they know will destroy them? The Imp of the Perverse follows a man who commits a perfect crime but cannot stop himself from confessing.

Edgar Allan Poe explores the urge to self-sabotage in this short, sharp story. It is one of his most unsettling looks at the dark corners of the human mind.

A group of explorers heads into the wild American West before Lewis and Clark. The Journal of Julius Rodman is an adventure story written as a fake diary, and it fooled many readers into thinking it was real.

Edgar Allan Poe never finished this tale, but what exists is a fun look at Poe as a storyteller who loved hoaxes. It shows a playful side of the famous horror writer.

A man sitting in a coffee shop spots a stranger in the crowd and follows him through the city for an entire night. The Man of the Crowd is a short story about loneliness hiding in plain sight.

Edgar Allan Poe captured what it feels like to live in a big city decades before anyone else tried. This tale is short, strange, and surprisingly modern.

A prince hides from a deadly plague by locking himself inside a castle and throwing a party. The Masque of the Red Death proves that no amount of wealth can keep death away.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this vivid, eerie tale in 1842. It takes only minutes to read, but its images of color, shadow, and silence stay with you.

Two women are killed in a locked room in Paris, and the police have no idea how. The Murders in the Rue Morgue is widely considered the first modern detective story ever written.

Edgar Allan Poe invented the detective genre with this 1841 tale. The solution is wild, and you can see the roots of Sherlock Holmes and every mystery that came after.

A young woman vanishes from Paris and is found dead days later. The Mystery of Marie Roget is a detective story based on a real unsolved murder in New York City.

Edgar Allan Poe tried to solve an actual crime through fiction. It is one of the earliest examples of true crime blended with fiction, and the case is still open.

A young man stows away on a whaling ship and ends up facing mutiny, shipwreck, and horrors at the edge of the world. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is Poe's only full-length novel.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1838, and its strange ending has puzzled readers ever since. It is part adventure, part horror, and entirely unlike anything else he wrote.

A painter becomes so obsessed with capturing his wife on canvas that as the painting comes to life, she fades away. The Oval Portrait is a tiny, chilling story about art and the cost of obsession.

Edgar Allan Poe told this tale in just two pages. It may be the shortest and most powerful horror story ever written.

A prisoner wakes up in total darkness and slowly realizes he is trapped in a room designed to kill him in the worst way possible. The Pit and the Pendulum is one of the most tense stories in all of literature.

Edgar Allan Poe set this during the Spanish Inquisition, and every sentence builds dread. You will hold your breath until the very end.

What if you woke up and realized you had been buried alive? The Premature Burial explores one of the most common fears of the 1800s with chilling detail.

Edgar Allan Poe knew how to take a real fear and make it worse. This short story will make your skin crawl and then surprise you at the end.

A stolen letter holds a powerful secret, and the police can't find it no matter how hard they search. The Purloined Letter shows that sometimes the best hiding spot is right in plain sight.

Edgar Allan Poe created one of the first detective stories ever written. This short tale proves that a sharp mind beats brute force every time.

A man sits alone at midnight, mourning someone he lost, when a dark bird flies in and says one word: "Nevermore." The Raven is one of the most haunting poems ever written.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1845 and became famous overnight. The rhythm and mood of this poem stay with you long after you finish reading.

A man watches over a woman who lies in an endless sleep, somewhere between life and death. The Sleeper is a poem about beauty, loss, and the thin line between rest and the grave.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote with a mood that no other poet could match. This short poem pulls you into a dreamy, eerie world that stays in your mind.

A visitor arrives at an asylum and enjoys a fine dinner with the staff, but something about the place feels very wrong. The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether is a dark comedy where nothing is what it seems.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this story with a wicked sense of humor. The twist will catch you off guard, even if you think you see it coming.

A man kills his neighbor, hides the body under the floor, and is sure he got away with it until he starts hearing a sound. The Tell-Tale Heart is a story about guilt that eats you alive from the inside.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this in 1843, and it still makes hearts race. It takes only minutes to read, but the ending stays with you for years.

A man builds a balloon and flies all the way to the moon to escape his debts. The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall is one of the earliest science fiction stories, and it is wildly creative.

Edgar Allan Poe mixed real science with pure invention in this 1835 tale. It is funny, strange, and shows a side of Poe that most people never expect.

A man wanders through a dark, misty landscape on the anniversary of a loss he has tried to forget. Ulalume is a poem about grief that hides in the corners of the mind.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote this with a musical rhythm that carries you through every haunting line. It is one of his most atmospheric works, and it rewards every careful reading.

A man is haunted by someone who shares his name, his face, and his voice. William Wilson is a story about the part of yourself you can never escape.

Edgar Allan Poe published this in 1839, and it reads like a dark mirror held up to the reader. If you have ever felt at war with your own conscience, this tale will hit home.