Did you know that Edgar Allan Poe, the author of "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Raven," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," was born 208 years ago today? Typically, we honor the birthdays of our favorite authors with a tribute to our favorite works, but for Poe, we wanted to do something a bit more... gruesome. We figured the best way to commemorate this master of horror was to round up our ten favorite deaths throughout his work, from premature burial to orangutan attack to sweating out all your blood. It's not exactly festive, but we think Edgar would have wanted it this way.

10. "William Wilson," 1840

This lesser-known tale of Poe's tells of a disgraced boy of noble birth, who meets a fellow student at school who seems to be his exact double, right down to their name and birthday. William is haunted by his double throughout his whole life, and their rivalry finally culminates when William's double comes between him and the object of his affection in Rome. William stabs his doppelganger, only to realize that he has killed himself.

9. "The Tell-Tale Heart," 1843

You all know this one: the unnamed narrator shares a dwelling with an old man, who has an "evil eye" that drives the narrator nuts. When the old man catches the narrator watching him sleep (creepy, right?), the narrator smothers him in his bed, chops him up, and hides him under the floorboards. But he doesn't get off scot free: the sound of the old man's still-beating heart from under the floorboards makes the narrator mad with guilt, leading him to give himself up to the police. Our advice: if your roommate is bothering you, try drawing up a list of house rules so you can avoid this situation.

8. "The Cask of Amontillado," 1846

Montresor, an Italian noble, seeks revenge on his frenemy Fortunato, so he liquors him up under the pretense of a wine tasting and the promise of a fine vintage amontillado. When Fortunato is sufficiently sloshed, Montresor leads him to the catacombs, chains him up, and walls him in, brick by brick. Then, just to make completely sure Fortunato will die, he tosses a torch inside before putting in the last stone. Overkill, right? (No pun intended).

7. "The Black Cat," 1843

This one's a twofer: the narrator owns a black cat named Pluto, and one night, after getting irritated with the pet, he takes it out to the garden and hangs it. When another Pluto-like cat mysteriously shows up, the narrator believes it to be his old enemy haunting him; he tries to kill it with an axe, but his wife interferes, and he ends up killing her instead and stuffing her in the wall. Thankfully, our double murderer is caught when the police show up and hear a strange, inhuman cry from the wall -- turns out he accidentally sealed the cat in with her alive. This murder gets extra points for the neat revenge exacted by the cat. It's a victory for animal rights groups everywhere!

6. "Berenice," 1835

A strange, depressed man named Egaeus marries his sickly cousin Berenice, and becomes obsessed with her smile. One night, a servant tells Egaeus that Berenice has died, and, prone to fainting, he passes out. When he wakes up, he sees a shovel and a small box: he realizes that Berenice wasn't dead at all, but he attempted to bury her alive. To his horror, he opens the box to reveal Berenice's extracted teeth. This story is one of Poe's most hair-raising, and though it's not technically a death, we couldn't do this list without this gruesome tale.

5. "The Fall of the House of Usher," 1839

In this Gothic classic, the narrator visits the wealthy Roderick Usher, who lives in an enormous castle with his sister, Madeline. Both are prone to illness -- I guess none of these rich people in Poe's stories find the time to visit a doctor -- and when Madeline succumbs, Roderick sticks her in the family vault under the house. But one dark and stormy night, Roderick reveals that Madeline was buried alive, and as the house starts to crack and collapse, Madeline returns, killing her brother. The narrator flees the scene just before the falling castle crushes him, thus ending the "House of Usher" once and for all.

4. "The Oval Portrait," 1842

This little piece of flash fiction contains one of Poe's most chilling deaths: a beautiful young woman marries a painter, who tells her to sit for a portrait. The painter's obsession with his own work causes him to slave at the painting for days, while his wife poses perfectly still. Finally, the painter's work is done: he's created a portrait so life-like it seems real. But when he turns to his wife, he sees she has died. 

3. "Hop-Frog," 1849

This is one of the few Poe tales in which we root for the murderer. Hop-Frog is a disabled jester, forever taunted and beaten by the king and his fellow noblemen. When the king asks him for suggestions for costumes for their upcoming masquerade, Hop-Frog cleverly tells them to dress as chained-up beasts covered in tar. When the noblemen come into the ballroom to scare their guests, Hop-Frog reveals that they are in fact joined by a chain to the ceiling. Hop-Frog hoists his tormentors high and lights them ablaze, terrifying the party guests, as his "last jest." 

2. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," 1841

This tale is widely credited as being the first detective story, so its two gruesome murders get an extra bonus for the historical significance. A Paris inspector, Dupin, investigates the death of a mother and daughter, one brutally beaten and the other strangled and stuffed in a chimney. No one can figure out how somebody could be strong enough to commit the deed -- until Dupin deduces that the culprit wasn't human at all, but an escaped orangutan. That twist may seem antique today, but in its time, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" was a revolutionary tale that begat a whole genre of fiction.

1. "The Masque of the Red Death," 1842

This one ranks highest on our death list out of sheer goriness: a plague known as Red Death has ravaged the countryside, while the nobility throws a huge masquerade party, safely quarantined in the castle walls. When one guest shows up dressed as a victim of the plague, the host of the masquerade becomes offended and pursues him. Chasing him from down the halls, they finally end up in an all-black room, when it is revealed that there is no one under the costume at all: it's the Red Death itself. One by one, the guests start to show the signs of disease: sharp pains, contorted faces, and uncontrollably sweating blood. It's perfect Poe: a condemnation of the decadence of the upper class, a slow burn of tension, and some really nasty gore. 

And remember: you can find most of these tales in this book of Poe's short stories, available at the Library. Any other favorite Poe fatalities? Let us know in the comments!