It is the dawn of January 19th- the birth date of American author Edgar Allen Poe- in Baltimore, Maryland, and a layer of frost settles over the tombstone marking the author’s original grave.  Before the sun has had a chance to make an appearance, a shadowy figure, dressed in black with a wide-brimmed hat and a white scarf, reaches into his pocket and slides his fingers over the glass of a bottle, grasping for a pen and parchment, and pricks his finger on the thorn of a rose.

Hours later, morning has settled over the graveyard. A crowd of onlookers appears around the site of Edgar Allen Poe’s grave.  For in the place of what was only barren concrete, there now lies a bottle of French cognac, three roses, and a note that reads, 

“Edgar, I haven’t forgotten you.” 

Onlookers speculate as to who this mysterious “Poe Toaster” could be.  And although homage is paid to the great poet and author every year, this figure remains as elusive as ever, embodying the shadowy ideal of Poe’s world view.