Both members of the South African-born mystery writing team known as Michael Stanley (A Carrion Death, The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu)were inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's ability to wring emotion out of readers. Here is Stanley Trollip's account (later today, we'll hear from writing partner Michael Sears):

[I] often used to read after “lights out” at my home in Johannesburg, South Africa -- a naturally scary time for an impressionable teenager. For my personal reading, I devoured a lot of boys’ books, such as the Hardy Boys from the USA and Teddy Lester from the UK. In addition to traditional readings, I would also venture into the books of rebellion, such as Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, and Mao’s The Little Red Book, and books on sex and love, like the Kinsey Reports and D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

Of everything I read, I only recall a few vividly. The one that had perhaps the greatest impact on me was Poe’s "The Pit and the Pendulum". After I turned the bedside light out, darkness brought vivid mental pictures of impenetrable cell walls and a gaping hole in the middle of my bedroom floor. The swish of curtains nearly caused cardiac arrest as I imagined a great scythe swing ever closer to my shaking body. I knew that creaks in the house meant that the walls were closing in. Mice running across the pressed metal ceiling of my room convinced me that rats were swarming all around my bed. My active imagination took its toll, and I was terrified for weeks after finishing the short story.

What writer would not want such reactions? The power of words! Poe played on my innate fears by triggering my imagination – a death sentence; red-hot walls that were closing in; the sound of the blade. Aaaargh! Poe must have smiled as he witnessed the impact he had on me.

Now I am a writer, I constantly strive to emulate Poe’s ability to conjure up vivid mental pictures and spark strong emotions. I want readers to know how the places we write about look and smell and how our characters feel about each other. I want readers to become emotionally involved, to be happy, angry, or scared with our characters. Poe set high standards and it’s a constant challenge to try and attain them.

Happy birthday, Edgar.