Doplegangers galore
Today I am writing to talk to you about one of the slightly lesser-known stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and by lesser-known I do not mean unknown, I just mean that it isn’t referred to as much as say The Raven or The Tell-tale Heart.
I am talking about William Wilson. The story of a man who encounters his doppelganger and was inspired by Washington Irving’s “An unwritten Drama of Lord Byron” which was also about a doppelganger.
I personally feel that this short story is underrated, especially as Poe himself labelled it as his best effort.
It was published in the Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1840. It has since been adapted many times across many different countries in both film, comic, and radio play. It is also referenced in various modern creations, for example by one of my favourite modern authors Stephen King who’s novel The Outsider draws a parallel between the situation faced by the main character and Poe’s story of William Wilson. The Outsider has been said (by King) to have been inspired by the story William Wilson.
Continue reading “Classic Horror: William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe”
Letters from a Horror Writer 