For 'The Fall of the House of Usher', it's the decay and the sense of inescapable doom. The house is like a living entity that is slowly dying and taking its inhabitants with it. The incestuous undertones between the Usher siblings also add to the overall sense of unease and horror.
Another very scary Poe story is 'The Fall of the House of Usher'. The gloomy atmosphere of the decaying Usher mansion, along with the strange malady of the Usher siblings, creates an air of doom. The story is filled with a sense of impending disaster from start to finish, and the final collapse of the house is both a physical and a psychological cataclysm.
In Poe's ghost stories, the atmosphere is one of the scariest elements. For example, in 'The Fall of the House of Usher', the decaying mansion with its dank and dark interiors creates a sense of foreboding. The description of the house makes it seem like a living entity itself. Another scary element is the characters' psychological states. In 'Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's insanity and his obsession with the old man's eye are terrifying. His paranoia that the old man's heart is still beating under the floorboards is a very disturbing aspect.
One of the scariest is 'The Tell - Tale Heart'. The narrator's obsession with the old man's 'vulture - eye' and his slow descent into madness as he plots and then commits the murder is truly terrifying. The guilt that haunts him in the end, with him believing he can still hear the old man's heart beating under the floorboards, is a classic example of Poe's ability to create psychological horror.
The story of 'The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs' is quite terrifying. A babysitter is taking care of a child at night. She keeps getting strange phone calls from someone asking if she's checked on the children. Then she realizes there's someone upstairs in the house. She tries to call the police, but the phone lines are cut. It creates a lot of suspense as she has to protect the child while being in a really scary situation.
These stories are often considered the scariest because they play on common fears. For example, 'The Hook' plays on the fear of being in a vulnerable situation, like being alone in a car at night, and the threat of a violent and unpredictable attacker. It's a simple yet effective way to create fear.
One of the top scariest stories could be 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. It's about a man who is driven mad by the old man's vulture - like eye and eventually murders him. Another is 'The Shining'. The story of a family in an isolated hotel where the father slowly loses his sanity. And 'Dracula' is also quite terrifying, with the vampire Count Dracula preying on the living.
Edgar Allan Poe has many great stories. 'The Masque of the Red Death' is one of his top stories which is about a prince trying to avoid a deadly plague by locking himself and his nobles in an abbey. 'The Black Cat' is also quite famous, dealing with themes of guilt and madness. 'The Pit and the Pendulum' is another notable one that creates a sense of extreme horror and suspense.
One characteristic is the use of psychological horror. In 'The Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's descent into madness is palpable. Another is the dark and often gothic settings, like in 'The Fall of the House of Usher' with its decaying mansion. Also, his stories often have unreliable narrators.
There could be various girls in Poe's top stories. For example, in 'The Fall of the House of Usher', Madeline could be considered in this context. She is a mysterious figure, whose presence adds to the overall sense of doom and gloom in the story.