Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most brilliant literary writers in history. He wrote numerous poems and short stories during his rather short life, most of which dealt with themes such as death, destruction and madness. These intriguing and often frightening tales, along with his clever use of a multitude of literary tactics, are what sets him apart and what makes him so popular even today. Reading his work, one surely wonders where these ideas come from. However, a little research into the past will certainly open the doors to a better understanding of his writing. Abandoned as a child by his father, Poe lost his mother to tuberculosis at the age of three and was sent to live with foster parents. There he was raised but never adopted. In addition, his relationship with his adoptive father was quite tumultuous. Shortly after their deaths, he married his cousin Virginia Clemm, who also eventually contracted tuberculosis and died after a long, hard battle with the disease. This had a very hard impact on Poe. In addition, it is known that Poe also had serious drinking problems and, according to some reports, he probably suffered from mental illness, as evidenced by a letter he wrote in which he stated that he had attempted to commit suicide (Quinn 1998). Furthermore, throughout his life, Poe struggled to become a writer, although his habits always ended up preventing him from achieving, during his lifetime, what he was capable of. As can be seen, Poe lived a life defined by death, hardship, and his own possible madness. This makes it much clearer why he chose such dark themes for his works. The two stories that will be discussed in this article are "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat", both published in 1843 in Au...... middle of paper ...... she is l the cat's eye, which he tears out (Piggush 2010). These themes of premature death, blood and madness are omnipresent in his works. . Even some works that are about love involve a kind of twisted necromancy, as in "Annabel Lee." His focus on death was extreme, as he explored all aspects of it, including the act itself, the (sometimes premature) burial, and the mourning that follows. Much of this is likely due to the unfortunate and often tragic losses he suffered throughout his life, and just as many of his characters often face the loss of sanity, this seems to be the case with Poe. Yvette, Edgar Allen Poe, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 18, 2, 2010. Quinn, Arthur, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography, Baltimore, Maryland: John Hopkins University Press, 1998.