Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, but was soon orphaned. As he grew up, he became estranged from his foster father, John Allan. He suffered financial difficulties through much of his adult life, as well as recurring problems with depression, poor health, and alcohol.

Edgar A. Poe was an editor, poet, short-story writer and literary critic. His poems dealt with dreams and nightmares. He wrote stories about alternate realities that set the stage for the development of science fiction. He pioneered horror stories and thrillers that focused on personal psychological terror and madness rather than supernatural beings. He also wrote the first modern detective story (The Murders in the Rue Morgue) and invented some of its enduring features, including the locked room mystery and the hidden object in plain view.