A Poe Compendium for the 175th Anniversary of His Death

It is the 175th anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe’s mysterious death on 7 October 1849 in Baltimore, after being found wandering in a fever on 3 October.

Poe has quickly become one of my favourite authors (if not the favourite judging by how often I reference him or his writings) and as such must have an extra special dedicated post for once rather than simply popping up throughout everything else I write like a macabre jack-in-the-box.

Firstly, I just wanted to compile a summary of the various Poe inspired media I’ve enjoyed over the years.

Books I’ve Read About Poe

1. The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl–A thrilling and satisfyingly woven dive into some theories that may account for Poe’s untimely demise, featuring a fictionalized “great detective” supposed to have inspired Poe’s C. August Dupin.
2. The Man Who Was Poe by Avi–A middle grade novel featuring lovelorn Poe moping about ladies’ gardens at night and stealing story ideas from little boys. It also glibly subscribes to the Poe-was-a-hopeless-drunkard school of thought.
3. The Blackest Bird by Joel Rose–A historical crime novel featuring the real life American murder that inspired Poe’s story “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt,” with Poe as a character who is a suspect or consultant to the police at various times. (More about this title in this post.)
4. BONUS: Nevermore by Keith R.A. DeCandido–I clean forgot about this one! It’s book 1 of a Supernatural novel series and has Sam and Dean investigate Poe-like murders and hauntings (if my fuzzy recall serves me.) From my GoodReads review: “Picked up for a fun, easy read during a Supernatural hiatus, this novel did keep my attention. I got it for Poe, really, and was somewhat surprised to find that that plotline didn’t occupy the majority of the story.” Hence, why I don’t primarily associate it with Poe in my memory, despite it using him as the gimmick.

Out of these books, I most enjoyed The Poe Shadow, so a re-read and proper review may be in order for the month of October. I also saved Edgar Allen Poe and the Jewel of Peru by Karen Lee Street on my to-read list. Apparently this is part of a series Street has written featuring Poe, so I may have to check it out.

Movies I’ve Watched About Poe

1. The Raven (2012)–A fictional crime spree with the modes of death based on Poe’s stories or poems leads him to be first suspected and then to ultimately help solve the case during his last days in Baltimore.
2. The Pale Blue Eye (2022)–A fictional crime involving weirdness and witchcraft placed during Poe’s stint at West Point military academy, during which, again he may be either perpetrator or investigator. An enjoyable period thriller perhaps best known for the GIF of Poe (Harry Melling) exclaiming, “BOOKS!” and running to Landor’s (Christian Bale) bookshelves.

I rewatched both of these movies recently and have plans to put out a comparison post considering how they portray Poe and reference his work. In the process of researching for that, I came across another movie put out in 2022 about Poe called Raven’s Hollow, so that’s going on my list to watch for sure!

Vincent Price’s Poe Extravaganza

1. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)–A reimagining of the Poe story to include a plot of hereditary guilt, premature burial, and betrayal. Vincent Price is absolutely at his masterful best. I give a more thorough review in this post.
2. The Haunted Palace (1963)–Based on the tale within a tale in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” this film goes back to the witch hunts of rural America and carries themes of generational guilt and reincarnation. While the plot struck me as Lovecraftian, complete with a town of people with unusual deformities, a necronomicon, and an eldritch horror, it pays Poe homage with Price’s performance as a man with an obssessed and divided psyche, held captive by a cursed legacy that is physically represented by the family’s mouldering and ruinous palace.
3. The Raven (1963)–The opening narration of Vincent Price delivering “The Raven” justifies this movie’s existence if nothing else. I may have to go back to watch it just for that. Otherwise, it is a campy and trope-y piece of melodrama that involves wizard duels, silly potions, and only the vaguest resemblance to anything penned by Poe. For all that, it’s kind of great. More on why in this post.

There is a whole series of Poe-inspired movies from this era directed by Roger Corman, most with Vincent Price, and I fully intend to watch them all eventually.

For now, though, I’ve started watching the 2023 The Fall of the House of Usher series and must admit to being vaguely put off by it. I have some ideas as to why but have yet to decide if I will continue the series and actually formulate an informed review. I’m on episode three, so we’ll see.

Anyway, that’s my first of maybe a few upcoming posts about Edgar Allan Poe. Whatever your feelings about Poe, I hope you’ve caught some of my enthusiasm and been entertained or found something to interest you here.

Do you like Edgar Allan Poe? Have you watched or read any of the media I’ve mentioned? Any unmentioned ones you’d recommend (or recommend to avoid)? Tell me in the comments and we can obsess together!