In my pre-goofy/weird days, with Nanny Opal.

Prepare to be shocked, people!

I was a weird child. I grew up on Monty Python, Alfred Hitchcock (TV show and movies), Stephen King, William Shakespeare, and Edgar Allan Poe. Add that to my hereditary weirdness and of course I was gonna be a bit odd.

Poe was my first literary hero—“The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Telltale Heart,” “The Purloined Letter” and other works fascinated me and informed some of my own short-story writing.

Today marks 211 years since he was born. So yeah, it’s all about him today.

I have this on a mug. It brings together three of my great loves: “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Poe and puns.
Image found on CafePress.

No, I will not nevermore speak of him, you dolt.
Image found on Pinterest.

He knew it was probably just that damn bird again.
Image found on cheezburger.

Pooh just got really dark. I like it.
Bizarro by Dan Piraro.

Kitteh, no burying him under the floorboards. That won’t work out.
Image found on cheezburger.

Ignore how awful animatronic Salem looks.
GIF found on psuvanguard.

Admittedly, I’ve thought of walling a few people up … I haven’t … but I thought about it.
Image found on The World of Edgar Allan Poe.

One more reason I don’t drink: drunk birds who can’t spell “quoth.”
Image found on cheezburger.