Finding a tattered bible near the grave of Edgar Allan Poe - By N.L. Belardes

Walking to find the grave of Edgar Allan Poe...

USA Today within the past few days listed the top ten scariest places on the planet. I just went to two of them: The grave of Edgar Allan Poe and the Exorcist Steps.

The Exorcist Steps are close to Georgetown University. I will be writing more about them, but let me say that where I slept that night in an old townhouse was next door to a house built in the 1700s... It was maybe five houses away from those famed movie steps... Was I scared? After having just toured the Healy building on Georgetown campus, knowing that William Peter Blatty hobnobbed with Jesuits there in the making of the film (he attended Georgetown), how could I not feel a little troubled? I mean, there's even a Jesuit graveyard on campus...

The Exorcist steps were very steep. I can imagine Blatty must of thought this area perfect for the Satanic death of a priest in his book and film... I imagined maniacal priests vomiting green blood and chasing me from the bottom all the way to the top of those stairs (keep checking back, as I will be adding video of the stairs). I indeed ran up them and was very winded upon reaching the top.

I had wandered to Edgar Allan Poe’s grave at midnight. I shot video of his grave and didn’t even realize the ghost-white stone I peered at through the fence marked his buried bones. All I knew was that I saw a huge marble square-shaped tombstone with Poe engraved on it. A siren came roaring down the street—my signal to get the hell out of there. I still had a ten-minute walk back to the hotel. When you have goosebumps, that walk feels like an hour.

I looked over my shoulder the entire time.

I wound along shadows of streets, past hissing manhole covers and people passing in the night. Yes, there were many people wandering into alleyways, down the street, or just leaning against walls. Where were some of them going? I don’t know. Midnight streets in downtown Baltimore crawl with life. I don’t know if it was because it was close to Halloween, or if such street stalking was normal to the inhabitants of this early American city.

An old hospital stood close by. Brick buildings loomed and cast shadows onto the streets and onto the faces of people slinking along sidewalks…

In the morning I had a brief breakfast. I first made my way to the Inner Harbor. I took a walk on an old navy sailing ship. The Constellation once sailed the African coast and ran down slave ships, sometimes freeing the inhabitants who’d been packed on board in a deathly state of humanity: people wallowing in feces and death—practically stacked like cord wood... the American sloop to the rescue.

Afterwards I crept my way back to Poe’s grave. Forget standing outside the fence of Westminster Hall. I wanted to wander the graveyard and see what else I could find.

I also explored Washington DC at the midnight hour—talk about creepy. My guide there showed me where bats hover in Munster building glee right by the Whitehouse. I haven’t even had the nerve to tell you about that yet. Baltimore, however, is creepy even in the daytime—especially Westminster Hall.


Flowers and trinkets rest on Poe's grave


Just inside the Westminster gates

When I arrived around eleven in the morning, the gate had long been open. Who opened the gate? Beats me. The only way in Westminster Hall is through a doorway that you can’t open. You have to ring a bell. I didn’t ring the bell. But I did sneak right in to see Poe’s grave standing like a stark white beacon. An artistic rendition of his face had been carved into the marker. Dried flowers had been laid on all four sides of a ledge on the gravestone. People had left trinkets: coins, a plastic sun face, orange Tic Tacs. I left a dime.


I left a dime...


What do all the details mean on Poe's grave? Why is there a period after his name? I felt very alone...


This interesting map shows the entire graveyard. Poe's grave is in the upper left. You'll notice dark lines mark the shapes of two buildings in the middle of the grounds, which means, there are catacombs.


Westminster Hall above Poe's grave on a cold day...

As I wandered around the graveyard I noticed there was only one other person there. Was he a tourist? Was he spying on me? Was he some maniacal English professor on a pilgrimage? I have no idea. I gave a brief "Hello," but he soon disappeared. I continued on a footpath around the church where I saw some of the freakiest grave markers I've ever seen: one that was on Ripley's Believe It or Not, a grave on four pillars that sagged as if sad and melancholy. There were prominent folk, families dead from disease, and weird markers and crypts.


A strangely bent marker


I followed this footpath around the graveyard...


Barred windows hide murky catacombs...


This footpath creaked beneath my feet


Following the creaking footpath...


This is the original spot in the grave where Poe was buried. Notice the beak from the raven is broken.


Plants grow from the upper portion of a crypt. I took this image from atop two flights of fire escape stairs...




This is one of the strangest moments. I thought I was seeing a reflection. Instead I saw glowing lights from catacombs within. I made my way back around the building to a door...

I have video of the door to the catacombs. The handle was loosened, but the door was strangely locked from the inside. I peeked in a crack and could see graves in an underground crypt. They were going to give tours Halloween night. Oh if I could only stay a few more days to meet some ghost hunters, and find my way into the Westminster Hall catacombs...



The strangest moment at Poe's grave was not seeing his grave, though when I touched the carving of his face I think I felt some kind of cold chill (not kidding). It was a cold morning anyways. The stone was freezing to my fingertips. But even more chilling than his grave was a part of the graveyard that sat beneath a portion of the church.


What is this strange deathly bed beneath a portion of Westminster?

I wasn't sure if I could walk under but did so anyways. I saw a few cigarette butts in the dirt. And I wanted to see as much of the cemetery as I could. In this partly hidden area below the church sat a grave surrounded by a short fence. As I crept closer I discovered on top of the grave rested a broken portion of a tombstone, and on top of that, a tattered bible held in place by a brick.

I picked up the brick and lifted up a section of the bible. I was a little too creeped out to see if anyone had scrawled on the pages. I put the brick back in its resting place and snapped a photo. I'm sure you'll all think I placed the bible and brick there. But I didn't. Let me assure you that I have chills even typing these words, and that USA Today was not kidding around when they wrote Poe's grave was a scary place.

As I left, I noticed I was no longer by myself. A dissheveled mother and daughter peered at gravestones, and a cop even wandered into the graveyard. I made my way up to the church door and snapped a few more photos. Eventually I wandered away, wondering if I would have a little bit of Poe in me...


The book on the grave marker, on the grave...


The tattered bible...


A final chill... as if touching the face of Poe...

Goodnight Edgar...

This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on Monday, October 30, 2006. You can leave your response.