Edgar Allan Poe is much more than the gloomy poet of The Raven or the macabre short story teller of The Tell-Tale Heart. The PBS documentary on Kanopy, In Search of Edgar Allan Poe, stylizes and weaves a much more eye-opening (and I’d say heartbreaking) ode to one of American Literature’s greatest.
It’s two 90-minute parts, exploring Poe’s imaginative brilliance, his inspiring resilience, and his undying ambition through life-long hardship.
More Than the Macabre
Poe, of course, is rightfully celebrated as the inaugural king of haunting tales. This special taught me that he was also one of the most innovative writers in our country’s history – before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Poe trailblazed the detective story with The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Before Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, he experimented with science fiction through stories like The Balloon Hoax. And his fascination with cryptology in The Gold-Bug helped inspire Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle acknowledged Poe’s influence in his first Sherlock Holmes story – Watson compares Holmes to Poe’s detective Dupin.
The closing credits roll like a who’s who of authors influenced by Poe.
Poe’s Unity of Effect is also explored, the theory that every word, every line, every image in a short story keeps the reader grounded in one emotion – fear, grief, dread, isolation, etc. And that stories at their full potential should be enjoyed in one sitting.
The documentary also confronts many misconceptions, particularly about Poe’s personal life and alcoholism. He had demons and addictions. There’s no denying that. It’s tragic and heartbreaking, yet the series unmasks a man marked by early loss, financial struggle, and deep devotion to his ailing wife – massive anxieties and demonic possessions all intermingling with his fascination for the writing craft.
And while Baltimore may claim him as one of their own, the series reminds us that Poe also belongs to more than just Baltimore. In Philadelphia, where he wrote The Tell-Tale Heart and grew his dream of starting a literary journal, and in New York City, where he penned The Raven, he lived out his last days in a cottage with his ailing wife in the Bronx. Here, he wrote his romantic ode to her, Annabel Lee (You can visit the cottage for tours.)
I came away both haunted and in awe of this literary genius and how much modern storytelling has this man’s dark yet imaginative mind to thank.
Watch now on Kanopy: In Search of Edgar Allan Poe (PBS) (Free with your library card)
Comment below your thoughts once you’ve had a watch.
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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant
Hoboken Library Staff Picks 