The Political Poe examines the collective works of Edgar Allan Poe through a political lens. While others have gestured toward Poe’s gloomy conservatism, Michael J. Blouin argues that Poe’s reaction against Jacksonian America—with its drift into populism, demagoguery, and what Poe felt was an unhinged politicization of everyday life—mirror the concerns of contemporary American life. Poe consistently denounced democracy. He leveraged racist and misogynistic tendencies. But despite these politics, Blouin uncovers lessons for a world where political thought is antagonistic and every truth has become a battleground for partisan bickering. Here, horror isn’t just a heartbeat beneath the floorboards; it’s a lack of political imagination for what can be created.

Michael J. Blouin is professor of English and humanities at Milligan University and editor of Popular Culture Studies Journal. His books include Democracy and the American Gothic. Blouin lives in Johnson City, Tennessee.