How to Talk About Murder Edgar Allan Poe’s stories are full of ghastly crimes, but the true horror lies in their confessions. Harry Clarke, illustration for Poe’s “A Descent into the Maelström,” from the 1919 edition of Tales of Mystery and Imagination . Courtesy The Public Domain Review In the summer of 1841, Edgar Allan Poe was a man on the rise. At the age of thirty-two, he was living in Philadelphia, where he worked as an editor at Graham’s magazine. Back then, Philadelphia was the magazine-publishing capital of the United States, and Graham’s was one of the nation’s most important illustrated monthlies. With a peak circulation of forty thousand—enormous for its time— Graham’s included tales, light essays, colored fashion plates, and reviews. As a literary editor, Poe provided reviews and, for an extra fee, tales as well. In those days, Poe was a respected reviewer and a fiction writer of growing reputation.…