Poe Therapy

 

After the difficulties of 2018 I decided that my coping strategies needed reconsidering and recalibrating. I realised that some of the 'distractions' I had developed over my previous 50 years had great value. I'm not so sure that 'distractions' is even the right term. I decided a few years ago that what gave my life most meaning was music, art and creative writing.

Edgar Allan Poe has long been a source of comfort for me. He died poor at the age of 40 in Baltimore in mysterious circumstances. He left behind morbid tales of psychological torment and human frailty. I have always felt a connection between me and his fragile characters, the overly sensitive, sickly Ushers, the tormented souls in the Tell-Tale Heart, the doomed party goers of Prince Prospero. He doesn't go in for happy endings, he didn't get one, maybe no one does. There is something therapeutic about him and his tales of frailty and failing. I've found Poe Therapy to be a thing. I've also found solace in Dr Who, films, books, ghost stories, poetry, Shakespeare. I've started making more lists.

Below are some pictures I took of Poe Cottage, The Bronx, when I visited New York City at the end of October 2017.

 

    

The Patient Librarian

I have been working on ideas for the patient librarian for many years. These are some of the literary decisions I have come to about it.

Story Outline

Jasmine Peak, a goth girl in emotional turmoil, arrives at the United Free Hospital to spend a year working in the Patient Library. The patient library is situated three floors below ground level near the morgue and is run by the mysterious Patient Librarian, Mr Eap. Soon Jasmine is engrossed in her work and finding out all about the world, love, life and death which inhabit every corner of the hospital and can be explained by her new boss, Edgar, and the stories he holds in his collection.

The story is divided into three and I have in mind a number of Edgar Allan Poe stories I thought could be incorporated into each part.

Part One - Arrival
1. MS found in a bottle
2. Ligeia
3. William Wilson
4. The man of the crowd

Part Two- Captivity
5. A descent into the maelstrom
6. The masque of the red death
7. The Tell-Tale Heart
8. The Black Cat

Part Three -  Departure
9. A tale of the ragged mountains
10. The facts in the case of M. Valdemar
11. The cask of Amontillado
12. Hop frog

I'm not sure about the Poe ideas as yet, I think he will be in there somewhere, but possibly as a more subtle influence.

  

Something More poetry booklet

I compliled the Something More poetry booklet in 2012. I remember 2012 as being a good year, my dad was still alive and we travelled to Edinburgh and Cornwall with him. My parents celebrated their 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary. London was in celebratory mood with the Olympics. The voluntary olympic embassadors were fantastic and there was a lot of comforting pink and purple everywhere. The years before 2012 were quite difficult and after it were deaths and losses. Something More is full of light verse written by me and light, childish pictures drawn by Amy, which were also on their way out in 2012.

Poe and Poetry on YouTube

I find there are wonderful short films and animation on YouTube produced by independent film makers and also gems from earlier in the twentieth century. I continue to use my AmiloFinn channel to create playlists of these works of art. As well as my 'At the piano' playlist you might also enjoy 'Poe's Tales'  and 'Illustrated Poems'.

'Poe's Tales' includes modern animations of Annabel Lee, Masque of the red death, The oval portrait and Eldorado and modern short films of Ligeia, The tell tale heart, The black cat and the Raven. There are also older films such as Vincent Price reading 'The pit and the pendulum' and a 1928 silent film version of 'The Fall of the house of Usher'.

Among the wonderful items collected in the 'Illustrated Poems' playlist are

Night by William Blake
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti
The Listeners by Walter de la Mare
The stolen child by WB Yeats
The Hollow Men by TS Eliot
Crow by Ted Hughes
Death and Co by Sylvia Plath

You can find the poetry play list here

There's something about Edgar ...

I thought I might never get to see the animated version of 'The Fall of the House of Usher' by Edgar Allan Poe narrated by Christopher Lee and directed by Raul Garcia. I was revisiting the very tempting trailer on YouTube (see above) when, after reading a few of the comments, I noticed that it has actually been released. It was released in October 2015 and is one of the animated films featured in an animated Poe movie anthology called 'Extraordinary Tales'. After hunting around a bit I found an online version and have now seen the entire film.

Extraordinary Tales by Raul Garcia : a film review

Edgar Allan Poe has long been one of my favourite authors, if not my absolute favourite, and this animated film, written and directed by Raul Garcia, I feel is a wonderful homage to him and his stories. The beginning and connecting sequences of the portmanteau film feature Poe in the form of a raven who visits a graveyard full of feminine statues and speaks to death in the form of a woman. The first conversation between them leads neatly into the first of Poe's tales.

The Fall of the House of Usher

Christopher Lee's narration is mesmerising in this and perfectly complements the stylishly drawn characters. Roderick and Madeline are as they should be; angular, striking and really creepy. The narrator, Roderick's boyhood friend, is rotund and spooked out by what has become of his childhood companion and the house he remembers as being magical. In Poe's tale it is not only Madeline who is ill, Roderick and the house are also falling apart at the seams and I think this is portrayed very well.

A conversation about redemption and justice leads to the second of Poe's tales.

The Tell Tale Heart

This story is told in striking black and white pictures, with a touch of red here and there. I have heard this story told many times. My English teacher read it out in an O'level lesson and managed to scare the life out of a bunch of rowdy teenagers. Here it is told by Bela Lugosi, who does a good job on it. The stark pictures are good company for the chilling story of a man who only kills because he doesn't like the look of the old man with the 'vulture eye'. I love that Bela Lugosi  made it into the film, he was born in the same century as Edgar Allan Poe, so it feels like an extra connection there.

After a talk about cheating death we come to the film's centrepiece.

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

I find this is a really creepy story even by Poe's standards. It is about a man hypnotised into an uncertain state, before dying, and hovering on the brink, suspended between life and death. It is another starkly illustrated and animated piece, but this time there is colour and a satisfying comic book or graphic novel feel about the short film. The doctor looks suspiciously like Vincent Price and it is narrated by Julian Sands, which ticks another couple of vintage horror boxes quite nicely.

The next story, we are told, is about a man's contemplation of unknown torments.

The Pit and the Pendulum

It took me a while to get into and appreciate this story and this animation also took me a little more time to get to grips with. The animation is modern and realistic, smooth and appealing. It is voiced by the director Guilermo del Toro, the story is about the Spanish Inquisition, so I think this was a very thoughtful choice. Good narration, I feel, is so vital in this, we see that horrible things might happen, but what is going on in the mind of the prisoner is where the true horror lies. I think I need to read this story again to get all I can out of it.

Having really enjoyed the first four stories, I was sure the fifth one would be just as satisfying.

The Masque of the Red Death

There is very little speaking in this piece, so the amazing music, which has been running throughout the film, really comes to the fore. The paintings in this story are a kind of oily water colour, the characters look similar to the illustrations drawn by Harry Clarke, a 20th century illustrator famous for illustrating Poe. This is another touch that I feel makes this film such a treat, especially for big Poe fans like myself. I have read this story several times, and was eager to see how the animation would take on the many coloured rooms of Prince Prospero's palace. They were done exquisitely, each with their own decadent character. I wouldn't say any of these short films were too scary, but I did find this film a little scarier than the others.

At the end of the film we are left to ponder the legacy of Edgar Allan Poe, which I think is pretty great. Gorgeous animation, five Poe stories, a little of Poe's poetry, the portmanteau horror film format; exquisite music, illustration and narration; this film combines so many of my favourite things, I can't help but love it.