Best known as the author of imaginative short fiction, such as "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Cask of Amontillado," and as the author of hauntingly sonorous poems such as "The Raven," Edgar Allan Poe was a leading practitioner of the American Gothic and helped popularize the short story as a genre. This reference work assembles in dictionary format a complete and current body of information on Poe's life and work. More than 1900 entries cover all phases of Poe's art and literary criticism, his family relationships, his numerous travels and residences, and the abundance of critical responses to his works. Each entry provides bibliographical information, and the volume concludes with an extensive listing of works for further consideration.