The term Gothic is often described as dark, mysterious, horrific, and suspenseful. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Gothic writing became a successful genre in the world of fiction. Many fictional works during this period were gothic and known for being dark and disturbing, leaving the reader in a state of pleasant dread. Edgar Allan Poe became one of the most popular Gothic poets of his time, best known for the unusual and disturbing themes present in his poems. A common theme throughout his two works, "The Crow" and "The Barrel of Amontillado", was sanity and the narrator's lack of sanity. “The Raven” begins with a man disturbed by someone knocking on his door and eventually being driven mad by a raven who can only recite the word “never again.” Similarly, Montresor recounts a murder committed fifty years earlier in "The Cask of Amontillado". Each of these works, written by Poe, has an underlying dark theme. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe faced many difficulties in his life starting at the age of nine months, when his alcoholic father abandoned his mother and two other siblings. After Poe lost his wife Virginia to illness, his poems became noticeably darker and more gruesome, and her death "haunted Poe to the end of his life" (Erica). These are just some of the difficulties that Poe faced throughout his life, and each of them led him to become a more dramatic and disturbing person. Every suffering he has faced has been used as inspiration for his writings, and throughout his work he inserts his pain and depression into each piece based on his life. His famous poems are the result of his madness based on his unfortunate life. Although Poe lived a busy and stressful life, his poems... middle of paper... include the story's disturbing setting, gruesome details, and the tragic death of a seemingly innocent man. Poe describes the basement walls covered in white minerals suffocating Fortunato leaving a disturbing image in the reader's mind. He then depicts the family shield in grave detail to emphasize Montresor's dominance over Fortunato. The most disturbing part of the story is when Montresor takes pleasure in hearing Fortunato beg for mercy. Not only was Fortunato in a state of mind altered by the amontillado; he was murdered brick by brick of the surrounding wall. People with mental disorders like Montresor take pleasure in pain, anxiety, and any other negative emotion. These two fictional works by Edgar Allan Poe are similar because they portray the mannerism of the Gothic writing genre during the period of its existence..