My favorite Poe story is Silence -- A Fable. To me it's message is that man's greatest fear is facing himself. I love it that the maelstrom and the beasts are something the man in the story can face, but the silence is what terrifies him. I also enjoy The Mask of the Red Death. I think it's message is pretty simply that none of us can escape death, but I enjoy the mode of the story.
Jackie