Fall at the house of Poe

I finally stopped by the Edgar Allan Poe house this past weekend.  Run by the National Park Service, the house was inhabited by Poe and his wife (and cousin) Virginia, along with Virginia's mother (also known as Poe's aunt) for six years, during which he wrote many of his most famous stories.

The Poe house is located in what, according to the Park Service, is the “now defunct” neighborhood of Spring Garden. The Spring Garden Civic Association might tend to disagree. I just attended a meeting of the association two weeks ago, where I was reliably informed that I live in Spring Garden, not--as I have been claiming for the past many months--Fairmount.

Whatever the neighborhood is called, it is still a bit edgy down Poe's way, as perhaps befits the author of chilling tales. The house itself is almost barren other than the front rooms. But I spied a stuffed orangutan in one room. The tour guide asked if we knew why our cuddly simian friend was there.  Little Miss English Major promptly answered, “Because he was the murderer in 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue'!” (This really isn’t a spoiler since the orangutan isn’t the point of the tale, which is known as the first detective story.)

Downstairs in the creepy basement was a stuffed black cat.  Apparently Poe wrote the tale of the same name while living in the house, using the basement for inspiration.  (Actual spoiler - the cat drops a dime on the killer.  This is why I don't trust felines.)