A collection of fourteen of the author's best-known tales of mystery and the macabre includes "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Fall of the House of Usher," in which a visitor to a gloomy mansion finds a childhood friend dying under the spell of a family curse.

The balloon-hoax -- Ms. found in a bottle -- A descent into the maelstrom -- The murders in the Rue Morgue -- The purloined letter -- The black cat -- The fall of the House of Usher -- The pit and the pendulum -- The masque of the red death -- The cask of Amontillado -- The assignation -- The tell-tale heart -- Diddling -- The man that was used up -- Narrative of A. Gordon Pym.