- How much do you know about the master of horror — and a few other genres too.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary… Thus begins “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, one of the founding fathers of gothic horror.
Today, January 19, marks the 215th anniversary of Poe’s birth. He achieved widespread fame already in his lifetime and today continues to be one of the most popular writers in American history.
And just as he wrote about strange and unusual topics, Poe’s own life was often just as weird. He lived through bitter rivalries, a kind of gross marriage, and many other twisted events.
Here are eight facts about the strange life of Edgar Allan Poe that you may not have known about.
1. He Wasn’t Born as Edgar Allan Poe
His middle name might be a big part of Poe’s perceived identity, but he wasn’t always called that. When the future literary master was born, his parents named him simply Edgar Poe.
Sadly, his father abandoned the family when Poe was only one year old. A year later, his mother died of tuberculosis, the first in the long list of personal losses Poe experienced over his life.
The orphaned Poe was taken in by John Allan, a successful businessman from Richmond, Virginia. Although the Allans never officially adopted him, they christened the child Edgar Allan Poe.
Poe himself wasn’t a huge fan of his middle name and often signed his documents as Edgar A. Poe. His friends, meanwhile, simply called him Eddy.
2. Poe Married His 13-Year-Old Cousin
Fine, let’s address what’s perhaps the most widely-known strange fact about Poe’s life. It’s true — he married his underage cousin, Virginia Clemm.
At the time of their marriage in 1836, Clemm was only 13. That made her 14 years Poe’s junior, as he was 27 at the time.
But that’s just what people did at the time, right? Not really. Even people in 1836 were uncomfortable about the whole thing.
On the bright side, historians now believe the marriage was more of a friendly arrangement and had no or very little romantic or physical aspects. Still… Pretty gross.
3. Poe Designed ‘The Raven’ to be a Hit
We often think of Poe as a brooding figure pouring his misery onto the paper. In reality, however, his writing process was highly calculated from the beginning to the end.
Take, for example, his famous poem “The Raven.” Poe firmly believed that to be well-received, a poem should be short, have a catchy rhyme scheme, and be mostly understandable to the everyman.
That’s just the logic he followed when he crafted “The Raven.” Although publishers were initially reluctant to publish it, Poe’s formula worked.
“The Raven” was a massive hit and turned Poe into a literary celebrity overnight. Considering that even Baltimore Ravens are named after the poem, Poe really knew a thing or two about writing.
4. Poe Was a Seasoned Athlete
Another fact that goes against Poe’s gothic image is his athleticism. Instead of a pasty, frail scribe locked in his dungeon, Poe was quite the sportsman.
In particular, Poe loved swimming. At one point, he even broke the Virginia record for the sport by swimming more than six miles up James River against the current.
Swimming wasn’t the only sport Poe excelled at, though. He also did rowing, boxing, and long jumping, whenever he wasn’t hiking through Virginia’s forests.
5. Poe Invented Modern Detective Fiction
Today, the name Edgar Allan Poe is almost synonymous with horror. But even Poe couldn’t bring himself to write only about spooky castles and tragic human fates.
He dabbled in many genres throughout his life, from love poems to romantic fiction. But perhaps most importantly, he single-handedly invented detective fiction.
Poe’s short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” laid the template for modern detective stories. Its main character, C. Auguste Dupin, is a brilliant detective who solves crimes through cold logic and analytical reasoning.
So, if you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, or any other famous detectives, you can thank Poe for coming up with your favorite genre.
6. Poe Loved Cats
You might not think Poe was a particular fan of cats from reading his stories. More than a couple of them feature ominous felines, not least his short story “The Black Cat.”
If you haven’t read that one, it tells of an animal-loving man who slowly begins abusing his pets in increasingly horrific ways.
Poe himself, however, would never have hurt a cat. He loved them and he kept his own purring furball.
Fun fact, Poe named his cat Cattarina. Punny pet names are by no means a modern thing.
7. The Cause of Poe’s Death Remains a Mystery
Poe died on October 7, 1849, in Baltimore, Maryland. To this day, nobody knows how.
He had been feeling under the weather a few days before his death, but he didn’t exactly seem like he was about to kick the bucket. Yet, on October 3, he was found in a disoriented state while dressed in someone else’s clothes.
He died four days later. Over the years, people have put forward many theories about what caused his death, ranging from alcohol poisoning to a brain tumor, syphilis, and even murder.
One of the more interesting theories posits Poe was a victim of cooping — a form of electoral fraud where the victim is drugged and forced to vote in multiple locations under false identities. That’d explain his delirious state and bizarre clothes.
8. Poe Was a Victim of a Post-Humous Smear Campaign
Many people today know Poe as a barely functional alcoholic. And while the man wasn’t averse to a stiff drink (or seven), he was nowhere near the wreck and lunatic he’s made out to be.
Poe’s bad reputation is all because of Rufus Griswold, his long-time literary rival. Through some finagling, his sworn enemy managed to become Poe’s literary executor, and so Griswold set to work to tarnish Poe’s name.
Griswold wrote a long, slandering obituary filled with blatant lies after Poe died. Although it was soon revealed the obituary was Griswold’s writing, the damage had already been done — many people still think Poe was a raving, drug-fueled madman.