ABSTRACT
Fear plays a key role in Poe's tales. Most of the characters in the Gothic pieces find themselves slaves of this emotion. Skilled craftsman and artist as he is, Poe realizes that he must also lure his readers into a web of fear. His use of fear, then, must be directed at both artistically created figures and the readers who will either leave the book or remain spellbound by the story and follow it eagerly toward its conclusion. Despite Poe's use of fear as a force capable of producing deadly results, many critics question his seriousness regarding this emotion. Lewis posits that although Poe's writings juxtapose terror and humor they rarely reject the power of fear. Other scholars appear more skeptical regarding Poe's fiction of fear. Perhaps readers find Poe's tales difficult to believe because they often contain unusual characters or improbable events.
