ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the depths of Edgar Allan Poe's artistic creativity, the more clearly one can recognize the genius of his imagination. An awareness of Benjamin Rush's Diseases of the Mind and Stephen King's Danse Macabre permits us to understand better Poe's strategy of fear. Fascinated by the various medical treatises that appeared during the early nineteenth century, Poe studied such works and used much of the knowledge imparted by these tomes in his own writing. Poe's tales of terror attempt to use their readers' reservations to the author's advantage; this fact cannot be denied. They also hope to strengthen humanity's ability to endure fear's onslaught. Although man does not possess that capability to destroy completely this disturbing presence, he can mentally master it. Viewed in this light, Poe's fiction of fear does not oppress its readers with thoughts of fetid decay or death but instead emphasizes the ultimate value of life.
