Edgar Allen Poe.....OOOH Spooky!!!! A Guest Post by HilyBee!

So...I love Halloween...and I love Edgar Allen Poe...and I love HilyBee and the blog Novel d'tales....so why not combine them all into one great, big, huge, super-interesting guest post by HilyBee about Edgar Allen Poe for Halloween! Okay, so here it is for your enjoyment...Thanks HilyBee...A post after my own twisted little heart...Bwahahahahaha *cough cough* hahahaha! 

Hey guys, HilyBee here - with Halloween right around the corner, I thought we could talk about the King of Creepy, the man behind the first really scary and haunting tales...Edgar Allen Poe   One of my favorite authors of all time.

Edgar Allen Poe is one of the coolest poets ever.  He wrote with so much emotion, few people have been able to surpass the great poet's work.  He also has the craziest history.  He married his much younger cousin Virginia, he was an editor, he never got paid for his own writing, he worked as a publisher, and died in a hospital after being found in a public house - not being able to say how or when he arrived at the house.  EAP is full of mystery himself, but his tales are even more mysterious.  Poe also wrote stories, not just poetry.  He wrote the original horror/suspense, but also dabbled in comedy and adventures.

He's best known for "The Raven"..

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.

"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, 

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore- 

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" 

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." 

(end)

He's also known for "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Tell Tale Heart" as well as "Annabel Lee".  Poe wasn't just scary all the time, he was also a romantic.  He loved very deeply and always took it terribly when someone died.

"Annabel Lee"

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, 

Went envying her and me:-- 

Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, 

In this kingdom by the sea) 

That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling 

And killing my Annabel Lee. 

But our love it was stronger by far than the love 

Of those who were older than we-- 

Of many far wiser than we- 

And neither the angels in Heaven above, 

Nor the demons down under the sea, 

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:--

(end)

There's an incredible amount of lore surrounding EAP's death.  One part of the lore being Poe's death is the unknown person who leaves 3 red roses and a half-empty bottle of Cognac every year on Poe's grave for his birthday (January 19), nicknamed The Poe Toaster.  Below is the only image of the Poe Toaster ever taken.  This image was illegally taken by a camera strategically hidden on the cemetery grounds by a journalist eager to bust the Poe Toaster.  The tradition is thought to have begun in the year 1949, and continued through 2009.  The Poe Toaster hasn't shown up for three years now, and everyone wonders who the true Toaster is and what happened.  A note was left in 1993 saying "The torch will be passed." but nobody has every been able to prove who left the note or if the Toaster really did change identity.  Read more about the story here.

Learn more about EAP and read his stories for free!  Grab a copy of EAP's complete works of poetry for free on Kindle here.  Poe survives this world as still being the most mysterious man and the greatest poet/horror writer ever.  He's truly a legend that well all love!  Happy October!

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