title: The Poe Shrine: Building the World's Finest Edgar Allen Poe Collection
author:  Christopher P. Semtner 
description: <span>Hereis a true story of mystery, madness, and murder worthy of the Master of the Macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, the author of terror tales and melancholy poems that have thrilled generations of readers. <i>The Poe Shrine: Building the World's Finest Edgar Allan Poe Collection</i> searches for clues to the enigmatic author's life and work among the few surviving articles he left to posterity. Among this cabinet of curiosities are Poe's boyhood bed, his walking stick, the trunk that contained most of his worldly possessions, a long-lost poem, an autobiographical manuscript, and a lock of the author's hair cut after his death. Each of the dozens of artifacts profiled here sheds light on both the author and the cult of collectors and researchers who competed for these pieces after his death. Among the collectors are a psychologist and Spiritualist who believed Poe possessed supernatural powers, a journalist who devoted his life to studying Poe after witnessing Poe's second funeral, and an atheist who constructed a Poe Shrine using materials salvaged from Poe's homes. Other real-life characters include Poe's devoted sister who battled Poe's mother-in-law over his estate, Poe's Spiritualist fiance who believed Poe was speaking to her from beyond the grave, and another of Poe's fiances, who refused to mention his name in public for decades after his death. <span></span>Along the way, the book explores possible inspirations for Poe's greatest horror stories, mysteries, and love poems including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," and "The Oblong Box." In this case, the truth might actually be stranger than the fiction. </span>
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  # Table Of Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  [Edgar Allan
  Poe](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos2602)
  
  
  >
  
  
  [The
  Assignation](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos2651)  
  
  
  [VENICE](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos2724)  
  
  
  [A Tale of the Ragged
  Mountains](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos29523)  
  
  
  [The
  Balloon](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos55805)  
  
  
  [The
  Journal](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos69180)  
  
  
  [Berenice](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos83954)  
  
  
  [The Black
  Cat](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos103081)  
  
  
  [A Descent into the
  Maelstrom](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#filepos125299)  
  
  
  [JOSEPH
  GLANVILL](The%20Black%20Cat%20and%20Other%20Stories_split_003.html#