Synopsis

A man loses his first wife, Ligeia, and then loses his second wife. But there are stirrings in the corpse.

History

First publication: September 1838 Baltimore American Museum

Republished in the February 15, 1845, issue of the New York World, included the poem "The Conqueror Worm" as words written by Ligeia on her death-bed.

Review

A short story, but very full in it’s descriptions and the setting of the mood. Here the writing style of Poe really shines to create the atmosphere of the story, the mystery and the terror. Poe was a master at using language for this. When this was published, he had yet to write most of his famous stories. Here his style that would make those stories great is in full flower.