No stranger to death, ghosts, hauntings and the occult, Edgar Allan Poe was right at home among the macabre. These morbid themes became great companions of his as he’d write his poems and short stories. His dark imaginings continue to bring readers into realms where the spectral reigns. A few years ago, I wrote a blog post celebrating the birthday of Poe, who was born on January 19, 1809. In it, I dedicated a small portion to interesting facts about the writer. I decided to expand on those and create a special feature to commemorate his birth. While many aspects of Poe’s life remain a mystery, the following are a few pieces to add to the puzzle of his existence.

A Master of the Macabre

The American writer is renowned for his horror-filled works, where death plays a major theme. His poetry and short stories have been categorized under the Gothic fiction umbrella, and they have also been associated with dark Romanticism, which is a subgenre of Romanticism that fixated on the grotesque and morbid. A few of his well-known works include the short stories “Ligeia” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” and poems such as “Annabel Lee,” “A Dream Within a Dream,” and “The Raven.”

Part of what intensifies the horror in Poe’s works is how he explored the darker side of human psychology through his characters. Stories like “The Black Cat” show how Poe didn’t rely on monsters or demons from Hell to create horror. In his works, horror is bred in the human psyche, from our own inner demons that plague us. Poe’s fiction exposes humans have a dark side that we try to hide from society, but in doing so, we could potentially drive ourselves mad.

Experienced Financial Woes

It can’t be said enough that Edgar Allan Poe was a gifted and innovative writer, so you would think that he must’ve made a pretty good living as an author in the 19th century. Well, that wasn’t the case at all. He actually struggled financially for the majority of his adult life and there were instances where he’d submit a poem or short story to a magazine to be published and never received monetary compensation or was paid very meagerly. 

For instance, Poe had this idea that he’d republish past works in a series of mini booklets titled The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe in hopes that these would generate sales and some income for himself and his family. The first one to come out contained “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Man That Was Used Up.” Unfortunately, it would be the first and last in the series to be published, and it only sold for 12 ½ cents! Less than 15 original copies survive and a while back, the Library Of Congress insured one of the few surviving copies for $50,000. 

Then, there’s his first publication, which was a volume of poetry called Tamerlane and Other Poems, published when he was around 18 years old. It earned him no money or notoriety at the time, but one of the few printed copies was auctioned by Christie’s in 2009 for $662,500.

It would be his poem “The Raven” published in 1845 that would put Poe on the map. People loved it and he received a bit of fame because of it. Now, before you assume that it was “The Raven” that took him from rags to riches, he only earned an estimated $15 from it. However, it did garner him valuable networking opportunities, such as speaking at lectures and growing a literary clientele. 

Besides doing what he could to earn money from his fiction, he did generate some income as an editor and critic for various literary journals throughout his lifetime. Even though he was nowhere near wealthy, according to The Poe Museum, he was the first American writer to make a living off of his writing. He may have been barely making ends meet, but he managed to hold his head above water just enough to not have to abandon his creative endeavors for other work or labor. And writing meant so much to him. In the preface to his book The Raven and Other Poems, he expresses, “With me, poetry has been not a purpose but a passion.”   

Inspired Detective Fiction

Although Poe is largely associated with horror literature, it should also be mentioned that he had a major impact on the development of science fiction and on the modern detective story. In fact, he inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes. In 1841, a literary journal called Graham’s published Poe’s story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” which continues to be revered as a great work of detective fiction.

Married His 13-Year-Old Cousin?!

This is a detail about Edgar Allan Poe’s life that is disturbing and not delved into much. In 1831, he moved in with his brother, grandmother, widowed aunt Maria Clemm and her daughter Virginia, who was nine years old at the time. The relationship between him and his cousin was platonic initially and the pair grew close. At some point, Poe moved away for work. A series of events occurred and when Poe discovered that his cousin, Neilson Poe, asked Virgina to stay with him to attend school, he was deeply heartbroken by the news. According to sources, this is what prompted him to marry Virigina, who was only 13, in 1836.

At the time, marriage between first cousins wasn’t uncommon and people did marry young. However, even marriage at 13 years old was extremely rare, especially considering Poe was aged 27.  To make matters even more unsettling, it’s believed the original ceremony was held secretly, and the marriage license states Virginia was 21 years old. It’s also said Poe would lie about the age of his bride and tell others she was older than she was. They were married for about a decade until she passed away of tuberculosis at 24. This is definitely a controversial aspect of Poe’s life. While no major qualms were made of this union during his time, it’s not surprising that it would incite concerns about his character today.

Cause of Death Unknown

Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, and there are many theories that attempt to explain how he passed. There are speculations that pin the cause to alcoholism. He did struggle with alcohol abuse throughout his life, but this is the most disputed theory mainly because it was believed he had been sober for the past six months before he died. His death has also been attributed to suicide, rabies, heart disease and even syphilis. In addition, it’s been said that Poe kept repeating the name “Reynolds” the day before he died, but no one has been able to ascertain who this individual might have been or why he would have been saying the name. 

“With me, poetry has been not a purpose but a passion.”

Edgar Allan Poe

His Steps Retraced

While there’s no shortage of theories about what killed Poe, there are a few facts that are known regarding his final days. Poe was a widower and his wife Virginia died in 1847. This loss took a major toll on his mental and physical health and he never fully recovered. He had several romantic dalliances, then he reconnected with a childhood friend, Elmira Shelton, who was a widow herself, and they were to be married sometime in October 1849. 

At this time, Poe was residing in Richmond, Virginia. Before the ceremony, Sir Edgar had planned to take a trip to New York City and Philadelphia for both personal and business reasons. The last time he and Elmira were together was on September 26, just a few days before his demise, and she noticed he wasn’t feeling well. Despite the state of his health, in the early morning hours of September 27, he hopped on a boat headed for Baltimore. From that date through October 3, he pretty much disappears from historical records. No one, then or now, has ever been able to track down what went on with Poe during those few days.

On October 3, a friend of his named Dr. J.E. Snodgrass found Poe in a tavern in Baltimore acting deranged, possibly drunk and wearing someone else’s clothing. This incident has raised questions if he was a victim of “cooping,” a type of voter fraud that was occurring in the U.S. at the time in which people were abducted, drugged and forced to vote repeatedly for a particular electoral candidate.

Whether or not this was the case, Poe’s whole behavior was concerning. He couldn’t talk straight or explain why he was in the state he was, so he was taken to a hospital. He only survived a few more days, never coming out of his delirium, and took his last breath on October 7. Even the doctor that cared for him couldn’t determine a cause of death. As if circumstances couldn’t get any more enigmatic, his medical records and death certificate have never been recovered. Nearly two centuries later, his death remains a mystery. 

Rest In Peace…Or Did He?

Poe was laid to rest at Westminster Hall in Baltimore, Maryland. He was initially buried in an unmarked gravesite there. At the persistence of friends and family, a headstone was made but never set in the ground because it was destroyed when a train crashed into the place where it was being stored. Fortunately, in 1875, the grave was relocated to a more suitable spot in the same cemetery where a beautiful monument stands to this day, commemorating the poet. But, like many incidents connected to Poe, the story doesn’t end peacefully there. There are speculations that the wrong body was dug up and transferred and that the current burial site does not house Edgar Allan Poe’s remains. All I can say is Poe must be turning in his grave…wherever that is.

The Ghost of Poe

Although Poe had passed, mystery continued to surround him long after. In 1860, a woman named Lizzie Doten, who was a spiritualist, medium and poet, claimed a collection of poems she wrote was spoken to her by Poe’s spirit. There was also a woman he was romantically involved with and engaged to briefly named Sarah Helen Whitman. She was also a spiritualist and had interests in the occult, and it was rumored that she held seances in her home. After Poe died, she believed he was trying to communicate with her, so she invited a medium to live with her in an attempt to contact him. It’s not surprising that Edgar Allan Poe attracted women with bizarre and macabre fascinations. That was part of his allure, right?

Poe’s Devout Disciple

There’s also the unsolved mystery of the Poe Toaster. It has been speculated that this unidentified figure would visit the poet’s original gravesite every year on January 19th between the years 1930 to 2009. The person would leave an unfinished bottle of cognac, three roses and sometimes notes. The identity of the Poe Toaster has never been discovered, but some believe the tradition was started by one man and later passed down to his sons to continue the custom upon his death.

Inevitably, hype around the identity of the Poe Toaster grew and people would wait around Poe’s grave on his birthday to try to catch a glimpse of this unknown devotee. For decades, Jeff Jerome, a former curator of the Poe House, was part of the small group that would watch for the toaster. He collected the notes laid at the grave and shared that in 1999, the note left behind hinted that the torch had been passed down. However, it didn’t seem the successors were as enthusiastic about keeping the tradition alive. Possibly due to the increasing curiosity of the public or lack of motivation to keep the ritual going, the last appointed Poe Toaster paid his final respects in 2009. But we cannot know for sure why this individual stopped returning.

He’s Immortal

When you think about how prevalent Edgar Allan Poe is in contemporary culture today, it’s easy to see how the writer has achieved a form of immortality. His work The Raven was featured on the first Halloween episode of The Simpsons in 1990. John Cusack starred as the writer in the 2012 film The Raven. Plus, more recently, a new series dropped on Netflix in 2023 titled The Fall of the House of Usher, which is a horror miniseries based on several of the poet’s tales.

His reach doesn’t stop in the film world. He’s also inspired music by gothic musical project Nox Arcana and dark cabaret singer Aurelio Voltaire. In the world of events, there’s an immersive experience created by the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy that pops up in various cities across the U.S. to commemorate his birthday. There’s no denying the writer’s life was touched by chaos, mystery, bliss, sorrow and controversy, and these elements seemed to spark and fuel his creativity. Today, his spirit continues to haunt the world of horror and stimulate dark imaginations.

Where to Stalk

Edgar Allan Poe Episode on the Vamp Jenn’s Corner Podcast

The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore

The Poe Museum