Pleasing Terrors

Find the grave of Annabel Lee and you find the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe!   In this episode, a hand-drawn map pulls us through a locked iron gate into Charleston's most overgrown churchyard, where legends gather like mist and names disappear into leaves. A lady in white wanders the paths. Sixty-four people have collapsed before this very gate.   We follow the trail of Annabel Lee—the girl Poe loved, or invented, or summoned—and uncover the stranger story beneath the legend: a visiting scholar who survived war and exile, stood before Juliet's Tomb in Verona, and quietly planted a grave that may never have existed.   The map points toward a burial—but the real treasure may be hidden elsewhere. What if the grave was a lie but the lie was true?   Sources:   The Ghosts of Charleston by Julian Buxton Edgar Allan Poe's Charleston by  Christopher Byrd Downey   A History Lover's Guide to Charleston by Christopher Byrd Downey   Unburied Treasure: Edgar Allan Poe in the South Carolina Lowcountry Scott Peeples, Michelle Van Parys Southern Cultures, Vol. 22, No. 2   Haunted Charleston by Sarah Pitzer   Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe- The Final Mystery by Julian Wiles Source for Alexander Lenard: Primary Sources by Alexander Lenard   Die Kuh auf dem Bast (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1963) The Valley of the Latin Bear (New York, 1965) - English translation Am Ende der Via Condotti: Römische Jahre (München: DTV Verlag, 2017) - translated by Ernö Zeltner Stories of Rome (Budapest: Corvina, 2013) - translated by Mark Baczoni O Vale Do Fim Do Mundo (São Paulo: Cosac Naify, 2013) - translated by Paulo Schiller Die römische Küche (München, 1963) Sieben Tage Babylonisch (Stuttgart, 1964) A római konyha (1986) Winnie Ille Pu (Latin translation of Winnie-the-Pooh) Völgy a világ végén s más történetek (Budapest: Magvető, 1973)   Secondary Sources - Books and Academic Articles   Siklós, Péter. "Von Budapest bis zum Tal am Ende der Welt: Sándor Lénárds romanhafter Lebensweg" (online) Siklós, Péter. "The Klára Szerb – Alexander Lenard Correspondence." The Hungarian Quarterly 189 (2008): 42-61 Sachs, Lynne. "Alexander Lenard: A Life in Letters." The Hungarian Quarterly 199 (Autumn 2010): 93-104 Lénárt-Cheng, Helga. "A Multilingual Monologue: Alexander Lenard's Self-Translated Autobiography in Three Languages." Hungarian Cultural Studies 7 (January 2015) Vajdovics, Zsuzsanna. "Gli anni romani di Sándor Lénárd." Annuario: Studi e Documenti Italo-Ungheresi (Roma-Szeged, 2005) Vajdovics, Zsuzsanna. "Alexander Lenard: Portrait d'un traducteur émigrant." Atelier de Traduction 9 (2008): 185-191 Rapcsányi, László & Szerb, Klára. "Who Was Alexander Lenard? An Interview with Klára Szerb." The Hungarian Quarterly 189 (2008): 26-30 Lenard, Alexander. "A Few Words About Winnie Ille Pu." The Hungarian Quarterly 199 (2010): 87-92 Humblé, Philippe & Sepp, Arvi. "'Die Kriege haben mein Leben bestimmt': Alexander Lenard's Narratives of Brazilian Exile." In Hermann Gätje / Sikander Singh (Eds.), Grenze als Erfahrung und Diskurs (Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 2018) Badel, Keuly Dariana. "Writing oneself and the other: A biography of Alexander Lenard (1951-1972)." Proceedings of the XXVI National History Symposium – ANPUH (São Paulo, July 2011) Nascimento, Gabriela Goulart. "Erich Erdstein and the hunt for Nazis: A study on the book 'The Rebirth of the Swastika in Brazil.'" Federal University of Santa Catarina (Florianópolis, 2021) Mosimann, João Carlos. Catarinenses: Gênese E História (Florianópolis/SC, 2010) Kroener, Sebastian (Ed.). Das Hospital auf dem Palmenhof (Norderstedt, 2016) Ilg, Karl. Pioniere in Brasilien (Innsbruck/Wien/München, 1972) Lützeler, Paul Michael. "Migration und Exil in Geschichte, Mythos, und Literatur." In Bettina Bannasch / Gerhild Rochus (Eds.), Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Exilliteratur (Berlin/Boston, 2013): 3-25 Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism (New York, 1993) Said, Edward. Representations of the Intellectual: The 1993 Reith Lectures (New York, 1994) Herz-Kestranek, Miguel; Kaiser, Konstantin & Strigl, Daniela (Eds.). In welcher Sprache träumen Sie? Österreichische Lyrik des Exils und des Widerstands (Wien, 2007) Lomb, Kató. Harmony of Babel: Profiles of Famous Polyglots of Europe (Berkeley/Kyoto, 2013)   Hungarian Periodical Obituaries and Commemorations   Egri, Viktor. "A day in the invisible house." In Confession of Quiet Evenings (Bratislava: Madách, 1973): 162-166 Antalné Serb [Mrs. Antal Szerb]. "About Sándor Lénárd." Nagyvilág 1972/8: 1241-43 Kardos, György G. "Man at the end of the world: On the death of Sándor Lénárd." Élet és Irodalom (Life and Literature), May 6, 1972: 6 Bélley, Pál. "Tomb at the end of the world." Magyar Hírlap, April 29, 1972: 13 Kardos, Tibor. "Farewell to the doctor of the valley: The memory of Sándor Lénárd." Magyar Nemzet (Hungarian Nation), May 14, 1972: 12 (also in Az emberiség műhelyei, Budapest: Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1973) Bodnár, Györgyi. Radio broadcast, Petőfi Rádió "Two to Six," June 21, 1972   Newspaper and Magazine Sources (Hungarian)   Magyar Napló, 2005 (17. évfolyam, 11. szám) Kurír, 1990 (1. évfolyam, 124. szám) Magyarország, 1969 (6. évfolyam, 9. szám) Élet és Irodalom, 2010 (54. évfolyam, 11. szám) Siklós, Péter. Budapesttől a világ végi völgyig – Lénárd Sándor regényes életútja Berta, Gyula. "Egy magyar orvos, aki megtanította latinul Micimackót"   Other Sources   Lenard, Andrietta. "In Memory of Alexander." O Estado, May 11, 1980 (Florianópolis) Rosenmann, Peter. "Lénárd Sándor." Web-lapozgató, November 30, 2004 Wittmann, Angelina. "Alexander Lenard – Sándor Lénárd – Chose Dona Emma SC" (blog, June 24, 2022) Spiró, György & Kallen, Eve Maria. "No politics, no ideology, just human relations." Hungarian Lettre 92 (2014): 4-7 FCC – Fundação Catarinense de Cultura Cultural Heritage Inventory (2006) AMAVI (Association of Municipalities of Alto Vale do Itajaí) Registry (2006) FamilySearch genealogical records Lenard Seminar Group website (mek.oszk.hu) Scherman, David E. "Roman Holiday for a Bashful Bear Named Winnie" (article on Winnie Ille Pu)   Film   Sachs, Lynne. The Last Happy Day (experimental documentary film, 2009) - premiered at New York Film Festival

In this episode, we follow the Annabel Lee legend backward: from modern ghost tours to nineteenth-century poetry, from pirate treasure maps to academic footnotes, from Sullivan's Island beaches to a forgotten corner of a graveyard. What emerges is not a simple ghost story, but an obsession—shared by scholars, storytellers, and an entire city convinced that something precious was buried in the South Carolina Lowcountry and must be found.   Edgar Allan Poe's Charleston by  Christopher Byrd Downey   Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle By C.G. Jung   Unburied Treasure: Edgar Allan Poe in the South Carolina Lowcountry Scott Peeples, Michelle Van Parys Southern Cultures, Vol. 22, No. 2     Haunting Poe: His Afterlife in Richmond and Beyond by Christopher P. Semtner   Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe- The Final Mystery by Julian Wiles   The New York Evening Post   The Charleston News and Courier The Sullivan's Island Edition of The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe, Frank Durham and Elizabeth Verner Hamilton

  The Descent has led us to Charleston, and to a haunted historic theatre where we uncover a clue that may bring us closer to finding the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe. Sources:   The Ghosts of Charleston by Julian Buxton   Charleston Ghosts: Hauntings in the Holy City by James Caskey   Complex, archetype and symbol in the psychology of C.G. Jung by Jolande Jacobi   The Mad Booths of Maryland By Preston Kimmel   The Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe by Scott Peeples   Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe- The Final Mystery by Julian Wiles

In this episode we visit the most haunted house of Edgar Allan Poe and then retrace his path to the threshold of a secret world. Sources that were either referenced directly or consulted during the writing of this episode:     Ghosts of Philadelphia by Charles J. Adams III   A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak   The Final Days of Edgar Allan Poe: Nevermore in Baltimore by David F. Gatlin   True Tales of the Unknown: The Uninvited, published in 1989 and edited by Sharon Jones   The Ghostly Register by Arthur Meyers   The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City by Scott Peeples   The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe   Haunting Poe: His Afterlife in Richmond and Beyond by Christopher P. Semtner   The Poe Shrine: Building the World's Finest Edgar Allan Poe Collection by Christopher P. Semtner

In this episode we continue our search for the ghost  of Edgar Allan Poe and retrace his path through the final, ill-fated months of his life.    Sources that were either referenced directly or consulted during the writing of this episode:   Ghosts of Philadelphia by Charles J. Adams III A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak True Tales of the Unknown: The Uninvited, published in 1989 and edited by Sharon Jones The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City by Scott Peeples Haunting Poe: His Afterlife in Richmond and Beyond by Christopher P. Semtner The Poe Shrine: Building the World's Finest Edgar Allan Poe Collection by Christopher P. Semtner

In this episode we embark on a search for the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, guided by Henry David Thoreau and the mystery of the Hollow Earth. Our quest begins with a visit to a haunted saloon and an apartment building that is hiding a dark past.

The conclusion of the three part series which combines history, ghosts, true crime and fairytales.

The second episode in a three part series about one of Charleston's lost stories. It is a true story that combines history, true crime, ghosts and fairy tales. 

This is the first in a three part series about one of Charleston, South Carolina's lost stories. It combines history, ghosts, true crime,  amd fairytales.

This episode features the untold story of the origin of King Kong.

This episode tells a story about pirates and a haunted dungeon.

This episode tells the story of the Charleston mermaid.

This is a story about a German fairytale and a brutal murder in northwestern Georgia.    Suggested reading: The Corpsewood Manor Murders In North Georgia by Amy Petulla

This a story about the Titanic, Victorian sex trafficking and a mummy's curse.        

Haunted houses, midnight witchcraft and famous murder in historic Savannah, Georgia.

In this episode I visit some of Savanah's most haunted locations.    Suggested Reading: Haunted Savanah: America's Most Spectral City by James Caskey Haunted Savannah by Georgia R. Byrd

Harry Houdini and the Halloween Séance. 

An unexpected return to a very creepy place to do a very foolish thing.

This episode features The Wizard of Oz, Greek mythology and a famous unsolved murder.

Episode 30: Resurrection delves into the history of Chicago's most famous ghost: Resurrection Mary!