Abstract: Edgar Allan Poe was a maverick genius of literature in 19th century. His works are always strange, horrible and mysterious. He successfully inherited and surpassed the traditional gothic literature, thus was regarded as “Father of American horror tales”. This paper aims to explore the gothic elements in Poe’s works from the aspect of atmosphere creation, plot knitting, characterization and some special writing techniques, so as to give us a clear demonstration of Poe’s contributions to gothic literature.

Key words: Edgar Allan Poe, gothic elements, atmosphere creation, plot knitting, characterization

摘要：爱伦·坡是19 世纪初的一位文学怪才,其作品风格奇特恐怖,充满了神秘感。他成功的继承并超越了传统哥特文学, 因而被誉为“美国恐怖小说之父”。本文将从坡的场景氛围设计、情节选择、人物形象刻画和特殊写作手法这几方面分析其作品中的歌特色彩，以便更好的了解他对歌特文学所作出的贡献。

关键词：爱伦·坡，歌特色彩，场景氛围设计，情节选择，人物形象刻画