Edgar Allan Poe has long been recognized as one of American literature's most intriguing authors, usually for reasons other than his writing. Most literary studies examine one or two of his tales and perhaps one or two comments he made about the short tale. This dissertation will instead look at the work Poe did while involved in the world of early-American magazines for the last seventeen years of his life. It will explore how the magazine world affected his writing and his theories, especially his theories on the genre of the short story, a genre that Poe essentially described and formed in the magazines, but a genre he did not name. Poe worked with many magazines in his career: one magazine, Graham's under George Graham, owner and editor, will be examined to see how Poe worked within this medium to shape short fiction.