The Writing of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was and still is an important figure in literature. He is known as the father of the short story. Poe’s works deal with the mind, as well as the bizarre. His terror stories express moral and psychological realities (Vol. 15 591-592 World Book 1990). The way that he uses setting evokes atmosphere and brings out the qualities of the human character. Poe’s most popular stories have a strange, horrible, bizarre setting (Vol. 15 591-592 World Book 1990). He writes Gothic tales that count on atmosphere for their effects. Poe also makes use of the supernatural. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” Poe uses the gothic idea of