Edgar Allan Poe was an oddity. His life was odd, his literature is odd, his legacy is odd. Actually, his legacy is the oddest part about him. In Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, J. W. Ocker explores Poe’s strange physical legacy along the U.S. East Coast and across the ocean by touring Poe’s homes, examining artifacts from his life—locks of his hair, pieces of his coffin, original manuscripts, the bed where his wife died—and traveling to the many memorials dedicated to him.

Along the way, Ocker meets Poe fans from a range of backgrounds and professions—actors, museum managers, writers, business people, professors, collectors, sculptors, historians—who have dedicated some part of their lives to Poe and his legacy. Poe-Land is a unique travel diary that follows the afterlife of the poet, author, and critic who invented detective fiction, advanced the emerging genre of science fiction, and elevated the horror genre with an unrivaled mastery over the macabre that has made the genre what it is today.

 

J. W. OCKER is the author of two award-winning macabre  travelogues, The New England Grimpendium and The New York Grimpendium. He runs the website OTIS: Odd Things I’ve Seen (www.oddthingsiveseen.com), where he chronicles his visits to oddities of nature, history, art, and culture. Ocker was born in the state where Poe died and now lives in New England. His work has appeared on CNN.com and TheAtlantic.com, as well as in Rue Morgue magazine, the Boston Globe, and other places people stick writing. He has a wife, two daughters, and a black cat.