Bizarre Facts You Didn't Know About Edgar Allan Poe

No Edgar Allan Poe biography would be complete without examining the frequently bizarre circumstances surrounding his life. Although today Poe is universally admired and respected, his journey was a difficult and frequently depressing existence fraught with poverty, misfortune, and the death of numerous loved ones. Perhaps it is fitting that such an inventive writer who frequently created tales involving mystery, murder, and the macabre would endure such a haunted reality.

Poe epitomized "the starving artist," a man who literally lived and died for his art. These weird, bizarre, and strange facts will help explain, "Who was Edgar Allan Poe?"

#EdgarAllanPoe #Horror #WeirdHistory

[powpow]

For some reason, i strangely forget sometimes that Edgar Allan Poe was from america

[safiiiyyyaaa]

I always felt bad for him whenever I read about his life, but I do love his writing!

[Jared_Wignall]

Actually the stories of him being a drunken drug addict was made up by Poe’s frienemy, Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Poe was basically allergic to alcohol and if he had one drink he’d be instantly drunk and feel incredibly ill afterwards. Griswold never actually liked Poe due to Poe writing a critical response to an anthology Griswold wrote and for the longest time people believed Griswold because he wrote about Poe quite a bit and how he was a miserable drunk and drug addict, but when Poe’s real friends found out about this they set the record straight that he wasn’t a drunk nor did drugs. Unfortunately, what Griswold said is still being perpetrated to this day with people believing Poe did drugs and drank himself into a stupor to write his poems and stories.

[JordanR]

"Poe was found in a gutter in Baltimore, incoherent and in need of help." Honestly, Baltimore just does that to people.

[arleenfackina]

Edgar Allan Poe didn't drink heavily. He had an allergy where the slightest drink would make him drunk. Those stories were lies told about him after he died.

[PureFPSPwnage]

"Moved to a rural cottage in the bronx..." oh boy have times changed.

[TheGodEmperorOfMankind_]

You really can find stock footage of everything, no matter how bizarre

[georgej.dorner]

As I am a Baltimore native, I was raised on the local legend of Poe's death.
Local lore says Poe was drunkenly used, and abused, as a repeat voter in a local election. In those days, bogus voters would be taken from poll to poll to vote repeatedly. Poe supposedly was one of those repeat voters, and was beaten when he gave his handler(s) grief.
Poe was reputedly found in another man's clothing, which was in such disarray that some was inside out. He was taken to the nearby mariners' hospital to die.

[LedosKell]

"A rural cottage in the Bronx"
This is a bizarre sentence to listen to.

[eac]

His adoptive mother doted on Edgar. As she was dying from TB, the second woman he loved to succumb to the disease, John Allan, carried on affairs increasing Edgar's already strained relationship with the cold man who was never thrilled to adopt him to begin with.

[artificialpanda]

"Despite this, he considered himself a selfmade man"
*Kylie Jenner has entered the chat *

[batman]

Poe is my favorite writer. As a matter of fact, his writings inspired me to become a writer. Even though it has been 170 years since his death, society really hasn’t changed its attitude towards writers, most of whom struggle to make a living. I will admit, however, that Poe was a poor literary critic. He made enemies when he didn’t really have to, something that undoubtedly contributed to his state of poverty. Nevertheless, he wrote with an eloquence that has yet to be matched.

[christopherwalken]

You should do H.P Lovecraft. That dude was batshit crazy

[zebdoz]

Seems to me that the lies Griswold spread after Poe died still remains til this day

[magpie]

I did a whole semester on Poe in school. It was great! It really raised my respect for him. The truly tragic part is that he would die before his true talent and success was apparent to the world. (The Raven was a success but he was the father of five genres and so on)

[jacktribble]

Poe was my first favorite. I started reading his work at age 11 and I still read it on a regular basis, some 30 years.

[ET_Bermuda]

He invented the murderous clown, too. I can't say for sure that he was the first one to write about a murderous clown, but he was the first American writer to do so.

[BeeHatGuy]

Edgar being a Sergeant Major is crazy, but I'm guessing the rank system wasn't the same back then as it is today

[deniseb]

Several years ago a fan of Poe's fans gave a description of Poe's symptoms to a group of doctors without telling them the actual patient's name. They ruled his symptoms to appear to be latter stages of rabies.

[kathihicks]

Thanks so much for posting this ! I lived in Baltimore for many years and every week would board the Insomniac bus that would drive us all over Baltimore and we always stopped at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. I'd faithfully leave a yellow rose as a sign of my friendship for the only author I admired !