Sad Day for Poe Fans

Sad Day for Poe Fans

Today (or rather yesterday, since I'm doing this at 3 AM...) marked the 201st birthday of Edgar Allan Poe & the anniversary of a long-standing tradition at Poe's grave - the laying of three roses and a bottle of cognac. Except this year, the mystery person who lays them every year didn't show.

The possibilities as to why the "Poe toaster" didn't come this year are endless - sickness, death, or the possibility that since last year was his 200th birthday, the toaster decided it was a good year to stop. Not willing to let Poe rest on his birthday without his roses and cognac, someone did put them out later in the day, but people who'd been waiting at the site to see the real toaster in action early this morning were disappointed.

And some am I.

Ever since my dad told me about this when I was in high school, it's stuck with me & I've been fascinated by it. In my mind, is the coolest & yet most bizarre of traditions. It's a great way to honor Poe's memory & yet no one knows who actually does this or how it got started. It's been done every year since at least 1949. Frankly, I hope that when I die - especially if I end up being a successful writer - people love me enough to leave nice things at my grave some 160 years after I've died. With press coverage.

Kind of dark and macabre with just a hint of romance. Poe, I'm sure, would love it.

You can't be a self-respecting horror fan without reading a little Poe. The stories are old so the writing's kind of dated & tough, but worth working on. Especially for classics like "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," & one of my personal favorites, "The Masque of the Red Death." Not to mention "The Raven" is probably one of my favorite poems ever. And the Halloween episode of Castle where he dressed as Poe & carried around that raven was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Nevermore!