Can You Hear Poe's Heart Beating?

Every Halloween night, a crowd joins together over Poe’s grave in Baltimore and listens to a dramatic reading from the work of Edgar Allen Poe.


Poe, after all, lived and died in Baltimore. His grave and memorial are in downtown Baltimore at the Westminster burying ground and the “Poe House” where he once lived is a few blocks away.


The last time I attended the graveside gathering on Halloween night, after listening to spooky music on the old Westminster organ and exploring the catacombs beneath the church, I remember actually sitting above Poe’s grave and listening to a reading of “The Tell-Tale Heart.”


I remember thinking, as I sat over his grave, how appropriate it was to read that particular story with his clay-cold body right beneath us. I could almost hear his heart beating.


Around Halloween, I often turn to Poe’s writing. It seems to go with the holiday. Sure there’s the horror of Stephen King and the vampires of Anne Rice. But they don’t seem to hold a candle to Poe.


If you’re looking for new voices in the art of the ghost story, be sure to check out these books.


The Ghost of Colby Drive, by Kristin Groulx:

http://www.kristingroulx.com/books.html


Portraits in the Dark, by Nancy Greene:

http://www.portraits.bravehost.com/


Or, you can always trust Edgar Allen Poe for a good scare.

http://www.eapoe.org/