Mystery Poe grave visitor was a no-show

Shown below is the original grave of Edgar Allan Poe in a church graveyard in Baltimore showing the half-bottle of cognac and three roses left every year on his birthday for over 60 years.


From a report at the link below:

A mysterious visitor who has left roses and cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe (pictured) each year on the writer's birthday failed to show early Tuesday, breaking with a ritual that began more than 60 years ago.

The tradition dates back to at least 1949, according to newspaper accounts from the era.

Since then, an unidentified person has come every Jan. 19 to leave three roses and a half-bottle of cognac at Poe's grave in a church cemetery in downtown Baltimore.

Poe was the American literary master of the macabre, noted for poems and short stories including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." He is also credited with writing the first modern detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," which appeared in 1841.

He died Oct. 7, 1849, in Baltimore at the age of 40 after collapsing in a tavern.

As for the fate of his annual visitor? That's a new mystery.

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