Today is the anniversary of the birth of one of America’s greatest poets and short story writers. Edgar Allan Poe invented the horror story and the detective story as we know them. I lift a glass of rum in his memory.
“The Cask of Amontillado” is one of my favorite Poe stories. I found this on YouTube, a young artist’s tribute to one of Poe’s most memorable stories–and a song it inspired. A wonderful combination of music and animation:
And let us not forget the classic Murders in the Rieux Morgue.
I’m sending an orangutan to visit you. 
His grave is in Baltimore.
For some odd reason, every year on his birthday, an “unknown visitor” leaves a bottle of cognac and roses on his grave.
58th year on the trot . Pretty cool story, and I can’t help but think Poe would have approved.
Rum?
“Filled with mingled cream and amber;
I will drain that glass again;
Such hilarious visions clamber;
Through the chamber of my brain;
Quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies;
Come to life and fade away.
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today.”
Now there’s a Poe-tion worth drinking!
What a wonderful video, Dr. Rieux! And thanks for this tribute thread. I love Poe. It was his work that first impressed upon me the utter power of aesthetics. Happy Birthday, sir! 
He’s one of my favorite poets; I have “The Raven” memorized, and used to know “Annabelle Lee” as well. And some of his short stories were decent: “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” come to mind. But his influence on the mystery story is, I think, greatly overrated. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” serves mostly as an example of how not to write a mystery story. The solution to the mystery depends entirely on information not presented to the reader until the revalation of the culprit, and it’s furthermore information that would, in fact, have been immediately apparent and noticeable to any investigator on the scene.
I got into Poe, oddly enough, by reading one of the Paul Theroux travel books. Theroux was reading The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym on whichever journey he was on, and I bought a copy and really liked it. Shortly afterwards I got a Complete Poe from a second-hand shop for a pound or two and devoured it. Some of it is a bit does shaky hand thing but I like the mans style.
Ended up leading me on to some not so good stuff (Lovecraft) and some eternal favourites (MR James).
I can not let pass this chance to mention a classic Poe inspired 404 error (Scroll down for the graphic):
http://www.grumpyfish.com/404/Archives/archive-102005.html
What about The Purloined Letter?
I seem to recall Alfred informing a young Bruce Wayne that it was rather significant in the realm of detective fiction.
From what we know of Edgar, he would not have minded very much with what spirits you toasted him. But his shade may be soothed that we lift our glasses to him still – even if probably melancholy that he could not be celebrated while he was around --, and that the yearly visitor to the Westminster Hall Cemetery carries out a rite so unlike our own unpoetic age.
That’s great! Thanks for sharting that, Gigo! 
As a teenager, “Annabel Lee” was the first poem that ever made me think poetry wasn’t all unintelligible claptrap. It spawned my interest in reading things other than comic books.
"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:-- "
Happy birthday indeed!
The song that’s playing with the video linked in the OP, btw, is a track on Tales of Mystery and Imagination by The Alan Parsons Project. The whole album is inspired by Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart is my other favourite track on that one.
That’s how I came across it–I was searching for another APP video (“Prime Time”).
I bought the *Tales of Mystery and Imagination * album back in '76, after reading a review in Rolling Stone.
They tried to interfere with the ritual last year?!! :eek: :eek: :eek: Do tell! Does anyone know the details of what happened?
The Purloined Letter is an important work, it shows how we can overanalyze, and be looking everywhere but where we need to look, which is right under our noses. As for the Murders in the Rue Morgue, isn’t a bit of animal hair found somewhere on the scene? I believe there are clues that would let you figure out what happened by certain leaps of fancy, (Not really any harder than that logic puzzle that has you figure out which passengers, and train employees share the same names based on some cryptic clues though, IIRC.) but it has been a while since I’ve read the story. Hmmm, off to read it!
The Fall of the House of Usher was always my favorite Poe story - but Amontillado is great. Next time someone pisses me off, I’ll brick them up inside a wall as a tribute to Poe.
Nemo me impune lacessit.
From an AP article on 1/19/2006:
“For the love of God, Marley!”
