[waterhill]

He really reflected the era, if not influenced it. I studied him a bit. Big fan.

He appealed to many. Then and now. Even the ‘Simpsons’ have used his work in their Halloween Specials. (Tell Tale Heart and The Raven)

Classic works.

[nopardons]

Yes, he did both; influenced and reflected the era in which he lived.

People, back then, had a terrible fear of burial alive. WHY? Because it did happen!

Both Poe and Nathanial Hawthorne, to name but two of America's best writers of that era, wrote undeniable great fiction in the GOTHIC style and true "classics", which many other later authors have been influenced by.

I too have been a huge fan of Poe's works, from the time I first read them win 7th or 8th grade; when schools actually required kids to read and know great literary works.