Since I was a teenager, Poe's poem, From Childhood's Hour has resonated for me in a way I am sure it resonates for many artists. It is about being different and thinking differently. I have always loved his melancholy verse and, of course, his down right terrifying Gothic short stories.
I was so inspired by Poe's work that I wove a scene into my novel, The Pride of the King from The Fall of the House of Usher and The Premature Burials (A woman in a coma was buried alive, woke up, pulled the bell cord from the coffin before she suffocated just in time to be "saved by the bell.").
I also took inspiration from his rich description of the rooms in The Masque of the Red Death as well. To this day I can still see the brilliantly colored rooms. Poe makes the point that, no matter how hard you try to physically protect yourself from evil, it will find you.
Back in 2009, I toured Poe's home in Philadelphia where he and his wife rented rooms. It was empty and soooo much better than going to a museum fully renovated and furnished with period pieces. The structure was undergoing its first renovation to become a museum after being a private dwelling since the time Poe had live there. It was run down and the museum staff had stripped out the modern fixtures revealing the original flooring and wallpaper. The best part of the tour was when the guide pulled up a floor board in one of the rooms Poe and his wife had rented. She showed us the hairpins that had been dropped down accidentally between wood flooring by some woman that has lived there years and years earlier. Perhaps it had been Poe's wife. It was almost as if they had just moved out. The guide said that Poe's wife had died there. It was such a personal and intimate glimpse into their lives, all because of a few hair pins. I have never forgotten it.
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