“Come commiserate with us” is one of the quips on the Poe Museum’s website. Despite 30º weather, Richmonders lined up to toast Poe on the anniversary of his birthday, January 19th! I just happened to be poking around that day and was curious to see what quirky objects and tidbits the museum has collected from the life of the master of gothic tales and early science fiction. There was a Timothée Chalamet look-alike portrait and a memorial presented by Edwin Booth (yes, John Wilkes’s brother) more than three decades after Poe’s passing. And, of course, recountings of lost loves and demise (many from tuberculosis and Poe’s own mysterious death). Also, snippets of hair (Poe’s and others’). About as Victorian as it gets. 👻