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His
name alone stirs the imagination with visions of
horrible crimes, crazed killers, sheer terror, and
hauntings from his short stories and poetry, which have
been in print since 1827 and include such literary
classics of horror and dread such as “The Tell-Tale
Heart,” “The Raven,” and “The Fall of the House of
Usher.”
The January 1845 publication of “The Raven” made Poe a
household name. But its not just his literary work that have
captured the public imagination, but with Poe himself.
Sadly, what most people think they know about Poe is
completely wrong, and was the product of an obituary then
biography written just days after his death by one of his
most vicious enemies, Rufus Griswold, in an attempt to
defame the author’s name. Fortunitely, Griswold’s libelious
attacks had the opposite effect he wanted and Poe’s books
sold better than ever, in fact more than when he was alive.
Poe was born on January 19, 1809 and died on October 7,
1849 at the age of forty, with the exact cause of death
still a mystery. I bought my first and favorite copy of
Poe's works when I was a teenager. I remember searching
through used book stores looking for the oldest copy I could
find and finally came across "Tales of Edgar Allan Poe"
published by Random House in 1944, which I treasure to this
day.
Documenteries
 Edgar
Allan Poe:
The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe
He is the uncontested master of the macabre a genius
whose melancholy nature made his own life as tragic as
one of his strange tales. Edgar Allan Poe's haunting
poems and chilling stories established him as one of the
most important men of American letters.
But behind his
popularity and artistic success was a personal life
defined by broken hopes and failure. This extraordinary
program tells Poe's complete story from the death of his
parents when he was three to his tragic collapse on the
street at age forty.
Dramatic readings recall the
devastation of his broken engagement and the loss of his
child bride. And experts explore the bouts of depression
and addiction that tormented the man and gave birth to
his dark and brilliant art. Take an intimate look at one
of literature's most complex and fascinating figures. A&E's Biography - 27 October. 1994
America:
Facts vs. Fiction - Trick or Treat and The Real Edgar Allan
Poe
In this
episode, that
writer Edgar
Allan Poe was not the madman that others have made him out to
be. AHC - Original Airdate: 2013
Hauntings and Horrors
Made for the
Travel Channel,
Hauntings and Horrors investigates spooky stories,
unusual people and strange tales. In season one,
episode two, the grave of Edgar Allan Poe is visited
with some ghostly results. 2013
Movies About Poe
The
Loves of Edgar Allan Poe
 While
Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his tales of the
macabre, the film "The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe",
shows a different Poe, one of a troubled writer whose
personal tradegies throughout his life, including the
lose of his mother, wife and aunt, molded his very
existence. The movie covers much of his life all in just
sixty-seven minutes. B&W 1942
The Raven
John Cusack and Luke Evans star in this blood-curdling tale
of terror that's as dark and haunting as the legendary
master of the macabre who inspired it - Edgar Allan Poe.
Baltimore, 1849. While investigating a horrific double
murder, police detective Emmett Fields makes a
startling discovery: the killer's methods mirror the twisted
writings of Edgar Allan Poe.
Suspecting Poe at
first, Fields ultimately enlists his help to stop future
attacks. But in this deadly game of cat and mouse, the
stakes are raised with each gruesome slaying as the pair
races to catch a madman before he brings every one of Poe's
shocking stories to chilling life...and death. 2012
Television
"Goth
Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers" (South Park)
 The ghost of Edgar Allan Poe is summonded by the Goth
and Vampire kids to help fight off the emos. Once
summoned, Poe insults the emos as being "wannabe
conformists", the vampires as "douchey", and Pete as a
"poser".
On the way to stop the emos, he states that his
"goth name" is Nightpain, thus making him a goth. After
helping to infiltrate Troubled Acres, Poe abandons the
group, choosing to drink coffee at the local Village
Inn, but does return just in time to reveal that the
"emo plants" are actually just regular ficus plants from
Lowe's Home and Garden.
The
Simpsons - Treehouse of Horror
 Originally titled the "Simpsons
Halloween Special", it is the third episode of
second season and first aired on October 25, 1990. In
this episode Lisa reads "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.
In this adaptation, Bart is depicted as the raven, Homer
finds himself in the role of the poem's lead character,
while Lisa and Maggie are seraphim.
Marge appears
briefly as a painting of Lenore. James Earl Jones
narrates. The episode then returns to the treehouse and
Bart, Lisa and Maggie, who are not frightened by any of
the stories. They climb down from the treehouse and
sleep peacefully the whole night. Homer, on the other
hand, lies in his bed terrified.
Stage Plays
Nevermore: An Evening With Edgar Allan Poe
 Horror movie icon Jeffrey Combs
portrays Poe at the Somerville Theatre in Boston,
Massachusetts on Halloween night, October 31, 2014.
In
this ninty minute one-man, one-act play set in 1848,
Combs is so good in his preformance that it is said that
he doesn't just play Poe, but must be channeling his
Poe's spirit.
This is
one play that we would really love to see!
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