He used vivid and detailed descriptions. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', he described the old man's eye in great detail, which made it seem so grotesque and menacing. Also, his characters often had psychological problems, like the narrator in 'The Black Cat' who descends into madness.
Poe often used unreliable narrators. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's insistence that he's not mad while clearly showing signs of insanity makes the reader uneasy. His detailed descriptions of grotesque settings, like the decaying House of Usher in 'The Fall of the House of Usher', also add to the horror.
Poe often used psychological elements. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's own guilt and paranoia create the horror. His detailed descriptions of the character's mental state make the reader feel the unease.
Poe often uses the psychological state of his characters to create fear. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's own guilt and paranoia are what drive the horror. His mind plays tricks on him, and we as readers are drawn into his unstable mental state.
Poe creates horror through his use of vivid and often grotesque descriptions. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', he describes the old man's vulture - like eye in great detail, which is really disturbing. Also, his narrators are often unreliable, which makes the reader question what's really going on. In 'The Cask of Amontillado', the narrator's calmness as he leads Fortunato to his doom is quite terrifying.
He uses vivid descriptions. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', he describes the old man's eye in great detail, making it seem very creepy. Also, the characters' psychological states are often unstable, like the narrator in 'The Black Cat' who goes from loving his cat to hating it in a very disturbing way.
His own experiences with mental illness, or at least his observations of it, are reflected in his stories. In 'The Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's descent into madness could be related to Poe's own battles or awareness of the human mind's fragility. He often wrote about characters on the brink of insanity, which might have been inspired by his own life's hardships and the instability he witnessed.
Poe often created unreliable narrators. In many of his stories, the narrators are either mad or on the verge of madness. Their distorted views of the world and events make the reader feel uneasy. Like in 'The Black Cat', the narrator's actions and his attempts to justify them are quite disturbing.
Edgar Allan Poe's influence on horror stories is huge. His dark and macabre themes, complex characters, and intense atmospheres set the standard for the genre.
His use of language was crucial. He often chose words with dark connotations and a slow, deliberate rhythm. This made the stories seem more menacing. In 'Ligeia', the way he described Ligeia's appearance and the strange events that occurred after her death was very effective in creating a spooky atmosphere. The words he used to talk about her eyes, for instance, made her seem like a spectral figure.
Edgar Allan Poe wrote his stories with a unique blend of imagination and a dark, mysterious style. He was known for his intense attention to detail and creating atmospheres that drew readers in.