Quizmo

Quiz on Edgar Allan Poe

20 questions · June 19, 2026

Below is the full Quizmo quiz devoted to the theme "Edgar Allan Poe": each question, its four options, the correct answer highlighted and, where available, its source. A chance to brush up on your general knowledge and then test what you know.

▶ Play today's quiz

Question 1

Easy

Which short poem about a talking bird is Poe's most famous work?

Source: Published in 1845, it made Poe a household name almost overnight—yet he was paid only about $9 for it.

Question 2

Easy

A single repeated word forms the haunting refrain of "The Raven." What is it?

Source: Poe claimed he chose the word partly for the mournful long 'o' sound he wanted echoing through the whole poem.

Question 3

Easy

In which country was Poe born and did he spend his life?

Source: Despite his French-sounding name and gloomy European reputation, Poe was thoroughly American—he just spent some childhood years schooled in England.

Question 4

Easy

Which body of work did Poe mostly write in, alongside his poetry?

Source: Poe championed the short story as an art form, arguing a tale should be readable in one sitting for maximum effect.

Question 5

Easy

Poe is widely credited as the inventor of which literary genre?

Source: His sleuth Auguste Dupin predated Sherlock Holmes by decades—Arthur Conan Doyle openly called Poe the genre's father.

Question 6

Easy

Poe's tale of a beating heart under the floorboards is told by what kind of narrator?

Source: In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the killer's own guilt—not any clue—makes him confess, hearing a heartbeat that isn't there.

Question 7

Easy

In "The Cask of Amontillado," how does Montresor kill his rival?

Source: Montresor lures Fortunato into catacombs with the promise of rare wine, then bricks him behind a wall—a chilling, slow revenge.

Question 8

Easy

Many of Poe's tales explore themes of premature what?

Source: Being buried alive was a genuine public dread in Poe's era, and he mined that fear in stories like "The Premature Burial."

Question 9

Easy

Which decaying mansion crumbles into a tarn at the end of one of Poe's most famous tales?

Source: The mansion's literal collapse mirrors the fall of the doomed family bloodline living inside it.

Question 10

Easy

Poe earned much of his living working in which profession?

Source: He edited and reviewed for several periodicals, becoming a feared critic nicknamed the "Tomahawk Man" for his savage reviews.

Question 11

Medium

Poe's poem about a lost love by the sea bears which woman's name as its title?

Source: One of his last poems, it mourns a love so strong that "the angels" themselves grew envious of it.

Question 12

Medium

What was the name of Poe's detective who solved "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"?

Source: Dupin's "ratiocination"—reasoning from small clues—became the blueprint for every armchair detective who followed.

Question 13

Medium

Who is revealed to be the surprising culprit in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"?

Source: The brutal killings turn out to be the work of an escaped ape—an early, shocking twist on the locked-room mystery.

Question 14

Medium

Which masked figure brings death to a sealed-off party in "The Masque of the Red Death"?

Source: The uninvited guest is the plague itself—proving the rich prince cannot wall himself off from death.

Question 15

Medium

Poe's only complete novel followed a sea voyage of which young adventurer?

Source: "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" eerily foreshadowed a real-life shipwreck cannibalism case decades before it happened.

Question 16

Medium

In "The Gold-Bug," what skill does the hero use to locate buried treasure?

Source: The story's cipher puzzle helped popularize cryptography for everyday readers—Poe was a genuine codes enthusiast.

Question 17

Medium

Poe carried a lifelong rivalry and grudge against which fellow American writer?

Source: Poe publicly accused the wildly popular Longfellow of plagiarism in what critics later dubbed "the Longfellow War."

Question 18

Hard

Poe died in mysterious circumstances after being found delirious in which condition?

Source: He was discovered babbling on a Baltimore street in ill-fitting clothes that weren't his—a riddle still unsolved today.

Question 19

Hard

Which essay did Poe write to explain the deliberate logic behind composing "The Raven"?

Source: In it Poe claimed he engineered the poem mathematically, working backward from its desired emotional effect.

Question 20

Hard

After Poe's death, his reputation was sabotaged by a hostile obituary written by whom?

Source: Rufus Griswold, entrusted as Poe's executor, smeared him as a depraved madman—a slander that shaped Poe's myth for decades.

← See all quizzes in the archive