Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American RomanticMovement. Best known for his tales of the macabre and mystery, Poe wasone of the early American practitioners of the short story and a progenitor ofdetective fiction and crime fiction. He is also credited with contributing to theemergent science fiction genre.Poe died at the age of 40. The cause of hisdeath is undetermined and has been attributed to alcohol, drugs, cholera, rabies, suicide (although likely to be mistaken with his suicide attempt in theprevious year), tuberculosis, heart disease, brain congestion and other agent