Poe’s Philadelphia Experience

By Abigail Esten

By the scene is a vacant old house in the center of a bustling city. A cold chill follows you in before you can even shut the heavy door. There are no furnishings, only a barren fireplace of cold brick. The ambiance gives off the feeling of ice. The paint is desperately trying to peel completely away from the wall, and the bare wooden floors creek beneath your feet.

No, this is not the beginning of an Edgar Allan Poe story. This is the backdrop at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia.

Poe lived in Philadelphia from 1838-1844 and wrote most of his...