“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.” So begins this classic tale of revenge and murder, written by Edgar Allan Poe. 

Edgar Allan Poe is said to be the first American writer who earned a living from his writings, and he is also said to be the "inventor of the detective fiction genre" as well as an important contributor to early science fiction.  He is the grandson of an Irish immigrant and was born in Boston in 1809 to the parents of actors. His father abandoned his mother when he was one-year-old and his mother dies one year after that of tuberculosis. He was taken in by John Allan who was a successful merchant in Virginia and had the strange habit of excessively spoiling his foster son one day and then aggressively disciplining him the next. 

Poe went to the University of Virginia in 1826 to study ancient and modern languages and, during that time, he became estranged from his foster father over his gambling debts and not receiving enough money to pay for his school costs. He moved to Richmond where he worked a variety of odd jobs, including working as a clerk and a newspaper writer. Finding that he was unable to support himself, he joined the US Army and published his first volume of poetry, which sold 50 copies. 

After several years, he left the Army and went to West Point. At this time, he married his cousin, who was 13 years old. He argiued with his foster father, John Allan, over his extramarital affairs and his illegitimate children and then Poe went so far as to purposely get court-marshaled so that he could leave West Point. 

Poe continued to write and, as his wife slowly succumbed to tuberculosis, he began drinking more heavily. In 1849, Poe was found in the streets of Baltimore, severely ill, wearing another man's clothing, delirious, and calling out for a mystery man named 'Reyolds' who was never identified. You can read more about his mysterious death in the excellent Smithsonian article below. 

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The (Still) Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe 

Was the famous author killed from a beating? From carbon monoxide poisoning? From alcohol withdrawal? Here are the top nine theories, written by Natasha Geiling  October 7, 2014

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/still-mysterious-death-edgar-allan-poe-180952936/

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For Creepy Magazine's graphic black-and-white magazine version of The Cask of Amontillado, check out https://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2014/12/poe-1965-pt-8.html

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The Simpon's version of The Cask of Amontillado:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjSjYSH4Xsc

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John Bell is our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

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My name is Cathy McCarthy and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can get my latest novel, which pays homage to Poe's classic tale The Cask of Amontillado at https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Black-Fallen-Angels-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B096SP6R6W/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+angel+wore+black&qid=1624373536&s=amazon-devices&sr=1-1

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Thank you for listening! And don't forget to rate and share with other lovers of short fiction. 

C. Mack Lewis