Teller of horror stories to attempt verse (6)
I believe the answer is:
poetry
'verse' is the definition.
(I know that verse can be written as poetry)
'teller of horror stories to attempt' is the wordplay.
'teller of horror stories' becomes 'poe' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to attempt' becomes 'try' ('try' can be a synonym of 'attempt').
'poe'+'try'='POETRY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for poetry that I've seen before include "Verses" , "Sonnets, limericks etc" , "Literary art" , "Work by Keats or Shelley, say" , "'Best words in best order' (Coleridge)" .)