The death of Edgar Allan Poe on October 7, 1849, has remained mysterious: the circumstances leading up to it are uncertain and the cause of death is disputed. On October 3, Poe was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance", according to the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker. He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, where he died at 5 a.m. on Sunday, October 7. Poe was never coherent enough to explain how he ...

"Mesmeric Revelation" is a short story in which a mesmerist puts his friend, Mr. Vankirk, into a trance. While mesmerized, Vankirk discusses profound ideas about the nature of God, the universe, and the soul, revealing esoteric knowledge. As the session concludes, Vankirk dies, highlighting the thin line between life and death.

"On Ghosts" by Mary Shelley explores people's belief in the supernatural through personal anecdotes and reflections on ghostly encounters. The essay discusses stories of apparitions and the psychological effects they have on the individuals who witness them, blending the supernatural with human experience and emotional responses.

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by the American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe. It was published for the first time on January 29, 1845, in the New York Evening Mirror. Noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere, it tells of the mysterious visit of a talking raven to a distraught lover, tracing his slow descent into madness.

This installment shifts focus from John Carter and Dejah Thoris, protagonists of the first three books in the series, to their son Carthoris, prince of Helium, and to Thuvia, princess of Ptarth, and follows Carthoris' efforts to win the heart of Thuvia, who will have nothing to do with him. When Thuvia is kidnapped Carthoris is presented with an opportunity -- throw in an airship battle, lost cities, savage creatures, and the fabulous phantom bowmen of Lothar, and you have thrills, chills,...

The story begins 10 years after the conclusion of the previous novel, which places it about 1923. Tarzan (John Clayton) would be about 34 and his son, Jack, around 11. During the past decade, Alexis Paulvitch, who had escaped Tarzan at the end of the last novel, has lived a hideous life of abuse and disease among tribal people in Africa. Now he is discovered by a European ship and taken aboard. In the months that followed, Paulvitch encounters the ape, Akut, (whom Tarzan had befriended in ...

"The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado") is a short story, written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book.The story is set in a nameless Italian city in an unspecified year (possibly sometime during the eighteenth century) and concerns the deadly revenge taken by the narrator on a friend who he claims has insulted him. Like several of Poe's stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination wit...

Professor Maxon performs secret experiments to make a "perfect race" of humans, finally succeeding with "Number Thirteen."

The Efficiency Expert, an often overlooked by Burroughs' fans, is a cracking tale of young Jimmy Torrance, an upstanding college graduate in post-World War I Chicago who inadvertently rubs shoulders with mobsters and ends up framed for murder. Jimmy Torrance was a hero in college. A champion boxer, star of the baseball team and one of the most popular guys on campus. On graduating Jimmy refuses the help of his wealthy father, determined to be his own man. Unable to find a "respectable" job...

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has been claimed as the first detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". Similar works predate Poe's stories, including Das Fräulein von Scuderi (1819) by E.T.A. Hoffmann and Zadig (1748) by Voltaire.C. Auguste Dupin is a man in Paris who solves the mysterious brutal murder of two women. Numerous witnesses heard a suspect, though no one agre...

A futuristic story of tragic love and of the gradual extermination of the human race by plague, The Last Man is Mary Shelley's most important novel after Frankenstein. With intriguing portraits of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, the novel offers a vision of the future that expresses a reaction against Romanticism, and demonstrates the failure of the imagination and of art to redeem the doomed characters.

"Jungle Tales of Tarzan" by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a collection of twelve short stories exploring the early adventures of Tarzan. These tales delve into his growth among the apes, his realization of being different, and his encounters with various jungle creatures and dangers, forming his identity as the Lord of the Jungle.