Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was a pioneering American author, best known for his horror and macabre works. A member of the Romantic movement, Poe is also credited with helping establish the detective fiction genre. Abandoned by his father and orphaned as a young boy, Poe attended West Point and married his 13-year old cousin in 1835; she died of tuberculosis within two years. Poe struggled to make a living as a writer but his poem THE RAVEN earned him instant success when published in 1845. Poe died mysteriously in 1849, aged just 40.