Books like Short Stories

I read The Fall of the House of Usher, William Wilson, and Hop Frog. All very interesting stories. I believe Edgar Allan Poe's purpose in writing these stories was to portray a strange array of madness brought through strange similarities. In The Fall of the House of Usher the narrator realizes when they are burying Madeline that she and Roderick are twins. They have that strange connection that makes Roderick realize his sister is not dead and that she is coming for him before everything crumbles. In William Wilson another person just like the narrator follows him around everywhere he goes until he finally snaps and kills them, only to find out he has killed himself. That one was the most intriguing due to it's sudden plot twist at the end. In Hop Frog although Hop Frog isn't exactly like Trippetta they are both dwarf size and it is because of what is done to her that Hop Frog snaps on the King and his royal court. The theme they all share is the madness the main character goes through due a traumatic event or because of someone close and very similar to them. Madness cannot only make a person mentally ill, but physically ill too. Roderick was affected greatly by his twin sister's death. Only to be traumatized even further by her later to the point of his death. The narrator William Wilson is so tired of competing with this other individual who is exactly like him and just wants to be unique and be the only William Wilson. The other William Wilson follows him wherever he goes and is his constant shadow, which drives the narrator mad and he ends up killing himself. Hop Frog is the only one out of these three that actually made it out of the story alive. He had a very heroic ending, but there was still death involved and madness of course.The stories were were written in a narrative style because of how everything happened in the stories. They had a chronological series of events that had a great climax and of course a resolution. They all had a very interesting way of unfolding that led to not only plot twists, but exciting yet terrifying events. This style is effective because reading the story and having it unfold before your eyes makes it a lot more interesting to read. Knowing what happens from beginning to end gives a great understanding to the underlying meaning of the stories also. In my opinion the stories were fantastic. They kept me intrigued and in suspense. I was just waiting to see what happened next. I have always been a huge Poe fan so they were right up my alley. I would definitely recommend these stories to any Poe fans or if people who like the Gothic Era of literature. I wouldn't really change anything about the stories because the way they are written and the elements that fall into place with them really give them that special something. Like always Poe does not disappoint.