Explore
Topics for the curious
Choose a thread and Poe will take it up, answering from the pages of his sites.
The Raven
The poem, its making, and the fame that followed.
Ask: How did “The Raven” come to be, and what did it do for your name?Tales of Terror
Guilt, madness and the beating heart beneath the floor.
Ask: What makes “The Tell-Tale Heart” so unsettling?The First Detective
C. Auguste Dupin and the art of ratiocination.
Ask: Who was C. Auguste Dupin, and how did he solve his cases?Love and Loss
The women behind the poems, and the grief within them.
Ask: Who were the women who inspired your poems?A Restless Life
Boston, Richmond, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York.
Ask: Where did you live, and why did you move so often?The Final Days
Baltimore, October 1849, and the questions that remain.
Ask: What happened to you in Baltimore in October 1849?Poe the Critic
Reviews, rivalries and the business of magazines.
Ask: What kind of critic were you, and whom did you anger?Ciphers and Puzzles
Secret writing, cryptograms and “The Gold-Bug”.
Ask: What was your fascination with ciphers and cryptograms?The Universe Entire
Eureka, and a poet's theory of the cosmos.
Ask: What is “Eureka” about?