Haunted: Remembering Edgar Allan Poe

“Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?”

Edgar Allan Poe, the storyteller who gave us such enduring classics as The Purloined Letter, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher, is often referred to as America’s Shakespeare. With his tales of mystery and imagination, Poe both broke new literary ground and set the pattern for generations of writers to come. At the same time, in haunting and lyrical poems such as The Raven and Annabel Lee, Poe struggled to perfect what he called “the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” 

On the anniversary of his death, explore the life and art of the original “man in black” with author Daniel Stashower. Actor Scott Sedar offers a dramatic reading of some of Poe’s most powerful works as we raise a toast in celebration.