Did Edgar Allan Poe Write a Ghost Story?

Edgar Allan Poe is America's forefather of Gothic literature and responsible for its most popular poem, "The Raven." I have argued in a past post that Poe did not (unfortunately) write a vampire story. But what about a ghost story? Poe had a mostly pitiful life where he suffered through poverty (much of it self-inflicted for his art) and the deaths of his mother, father, foster mother, foster father (John Allen), wife (Virginia Poe), former fiancee (Sarah Helen Whitman) and close friends. Who better to write a ghost story than the forefather of Goth who had lost so many relatives?

In my view he wrote at least four ghost stories:

1835 Morella;
1838 Ligeia;
1842 The Mask of the Red Death (Included in The Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849); and
1842 The Oval Portrait.

Arguments have been made (spoiler alert) that the revived sister in The Fall of the House of Usher is a ghost, and I get that. She is either someone who was laid to rest by her brother when she was near death (ala The Premature Burial) or locked away, which explains Roderick Usher's nervous condition. Anyway, yes Poe did write a ghost story or two or four. All are fantastic and worth a slow read.

A Night with Morrissey

Morrissey. The former lead singer of The Smiths. I have to make a quick comment about the guy who called Robert Smith a whinebag and who has garnered many pointed jabs in return over the years. The most recent of which was Robert saying he would never published a book about himself ala Morrissey's recent autobiography.

On May 27, 2014, on a rainy night in Memphis, Tennessee at the historic Orpheum Theatre, I got to see Morrissey perform with an excellent band assembled from across the country. He sang a few of his older tunes ("Every day is like Sunday") and launched into a few new ones before assaulting the senses of everyone in the audience with "Meat is Murder." Many horrible pics of animal torture were flashed on the screen in an attempt to make everyone in the pork barbecue capital of world a raging vegetarian. I guy in my section kept yelling out "I wanna eat some ribs!" during the theatrics.

I admit it was fun to watch Morrissey prance across the stage, angular chin raised, as he sang with his remarkable voice. He is, after all, the new wave crooner of the 80's generation. Most of time he had the annoying habit of snapping the microphone wire off to the side as though a matador in training. But that was only a minor annoyance to a mostly enjoyable concert.

When Morrissey strutted off the stage, he tore off his shirt to many perplexed looks from the crowd at the mid-fifties guy leaving the stage half-clothed.

The Divine Dantes: Squirt Guns in Hades (Infernal Trilogy #1) Ebook Free

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"[A] lively and good natured work." -- Publisher's Weekly Reviewer

To celebrate the launch of The Divine Dantes: Paella in Purgatory (Infernal Trilogy #2), I have dropped the price of The Divine Dantes: Squirt Guns in Hades (Infernal Trilogy #1) to only $0.00.

Divine Dantes at Apple iBookstore
Divine Dantes at Barnes & Noble Nook

But wait, there's more. If you download today, you will not only be getting a comedic novel for free, you will also be getting a finalist in the "Best second novel" category of the Indie Book Awards.

"The book is also printed on gold paper. Naw!" Edward T. Nad.