Hey, i know you guys get asked alot of questions. I have read most of Poe's works and the reason for this note is to get opinions for an essay on King VS Poe. I DO NOT NEED HELP WITH MY PAPER, i only want suggestions of which of Poe's works to compare to which of Kings works. Something that may have some similarities. Was considering *Fall of the House of Usher* against *Rose Red* butthere arent too many similarities. i dunno. If you can think of a better one please post or email me at ChrissyLynn324@aol.com. Thanks a million. Chrissy

-- Anonymous, September 16, 2002

Answers

Never thought King was too original especially in his later works. "Rose Red" could be compared to "The Pigeons from Hell" by Robert Howard or any number of haunted house stories, a la the Belasco mansion and other demon worshipping founders. Also it is a rambling, multi-character novel where the professor's own obsession and fall does compare to some Poe protagonists. King himself acknowledges some debt to Poe and many other writers, though the discipline of brevity seems not to have taken hold. Poe believed in quick intensity sustained in a single sitting of actual reading, the form matching in every detail the effect. The rambling epic would have been anathema and at least for Poe was only attempted once to mixed reviews(The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym).

What is specifically Poe then and not just the huge horror tradition of which Poe himself was not necessarily an original part? The need to explain or rationalize while still being defeated by horror and the lure of fascination might be it. Poe,unfortunately, actually was not very overt with the supernatural element King swims in with enthusiasm of the campfire storyteller. Poe's metaphysics and good/evil battle are not so naive or clear- as is reality for most of us- and Poe wants to keep us in the real world while pressing us to the dark and impassable limits. A haunting exception "Metzengerstein". "Ligeia" has some similarities to "Rose Red" destructive hauntings.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002