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Edgar Allan Poe in the Bronx
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Edgar Allan Poe, esteemed master of the macabre, lived the last few years of his life in the the Boogie Down Bronx.
If ever there was a time to pay respects to this literary pioneer, it's Halloween, a time when all things disturbing and horrifying become acceptable even by those with no regular interest in the genre. 
This month marks the 160th anniversary of Poe's death (October 7, 1849). The particulars of his demise remain an unsolved mystery, though many solid theories abound.
Poe was a writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. He's also considered the inventor of detective fiction, one of several founding fathers of science fiction and, without question, the horror genre itself long before anyone classified it as such. If you live in or around New York, or are just passing through, you can step into the quiet world Poe inhabited in the final years of his life, and in the most unlikely of places: the Bronx!
The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage is a tiny house and museum in Fordham administered by the Bronx County Historical Society. Located on bustling Grand Concourse (and Kingsbridge Road) and surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings and streams of foot traffic is Poe Park, within which the cottage itself houses old relics of the famous author's life. In 1846 Poe moved there with his wife Virginia to get away from the crowds and pollution of Manhattan in hopes that the "country air" of the Bronx would cure her of tuberculosis. (There were no antibiotics and no known cure for "TB.") In 1846 the Bronx was a pastoral landscape, where the only traffic came from the occassional horse-drawn carriage along a single dirt road. Unfortunately, Virginia died within two years later at the age of 24.
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It was during this time that Poe wrote some of his most famous works, including the short story "The Cask of Amontillado" and the bizarrely philosophical and non-fictional essay Eureka: A Prose Poem. Also penned was his final poem, "Annabel Lee," a sweet and melancholic tale of a man lamenting the death of the woman he loved. In truth, "death of a beautiful woman" was a recurring theme throughout Poe's works, as his life was filled with the continual loss of the women in his life. Perhaps comically, the poem "The Bells" also written at this time, is supposed to have been written in response to the clamor of nearby Fordham University's bells, which irrirated Poe and prompted a more lurid interpretation: the titular bells begin as "the jingling and the tinkling" and darkens to "the moaning and the groaning" at its end, and which are imagined as tolled by ghouls.
The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage is worth visiting, at least once if you can make the trip. As the website explains, "A film presentation and guided tour help bring Poe Cottage to life. 
Visitors can see the bed in which Virginia died and the rocking chair Poe used. In the kitchen, the dishes on the table appear as if the great author had just stepped out for air." From my own recent visit to the cottage, I can testify to the eerie and antiquated atmosphere of the place, stepping from the tumultuous world of stress and traffic into the placidity of another time. The caretaker/tourguide is knowledable and friendly, offering visitors a glimpse into the tragic, brilliant life of one very interesting man.
And in the miniscule giftshop section of the cottage, you can even procure a keychain quoting Poe: "I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."
For More Information: Visit the Bronx County Historical Society website.
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