With author Edgar Allen Poe, there is an instant connotation to darkness, eerie settings, death and decay, the uncanny, and all things gothic. With Poe, it’s fair to say that he is associated with the weird and unnatural. In the middle of the fall season, there is a holiday that also celebrates the odd and uncanny. Halloween is a holiday that is celebrated all around the United States and involves dressing up and embracing the unfamiliar and strange. With both a holiday and an author that share similar connotations, it does not come as a surprise that they are often linked. Through this connection, there are many Poe themed decorations that come around and are advertised leading up to the Halloween season. One item that stood out to me in particular is a “Glitter Water Globe Collectible Figurine” that is made by Ebros Gift. This item is a version of what is also called a “snow globe” adapted to fit the theme of Halloween. The globe uses an image of a crow perched upon a skull; an image made famous by Poe’s The Raven. In this essay, I describe this Poe themed water globe, and come to a better understanding on how Edgar Allen Poe has become a pop culture icon.
The water globe itself is based on the idea of a snow globe that can often be found in gift shops of that contain a miniature figurine inside a glass sphere filled with liquid. In traditional snow globes, there are small flakes of white that float freely in the liquid that resembles snow, thus leading to the name “snow globe”. However, in this globe, the white flakes have been replaced by sparkly glitter that reflects the light into a multitude of colors. This change from flakes to glitter allows the item to be used in any holiday, not just around Christmas. The other significant detail is the miniature that is the subject of the figurine. In the Poe figurine, we see a black raven, perched upon a human skull. This is clearly a reference to Poe’s The Raven, which is his most commercially successful and popular poem. In The Raven, the speaker is tortured by a raven who only speaks the word “nevermore.” The Raven is a massively successful and is the source of much inspiration by other authors and has received many references throughout pop history since its publication. Another interesting thing to note about this glitter globe is its base. The base of the globe is formed by a ring of skulls facing outwards. This is yet another connecting factor between this object, Poe, and Halloween, as some of the most popular Halloween decorations also include skulls, and in The Raven, “Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door- perched, and , and sat, and nothing more”[1]. In this moment in the poem, the mysterious raven has now invaded the living space and the head space of the speaker of the narrator. While the raven is not perched upon a skull in the poem, it is clear that the creators of this globe have taken inspiration from this line. In terms of the physical profile, the figurine is rather small, as it is only 3.5 inches (89 mm) tall and 2.5 inches (65 mm) wide. This leads me to assume that it is meant to be kept on a desk or a shelf as decoration, not necessarily a centerpiece of a table or group of decorations. The globe is made of resin and glass and is allegedly hand painted and polished. This suggests that the maker of the globe, Ebros Gift, puts special care into their products and work, meaning that they have a strong interest in not only specifically Halloween and Poe, but for the gothic decorations as a whole.
As mentioned earlier, Poe shares a lot of similar connotations with Halloween, so it is not surprising that they are often seen and used together to increase sales and attraction to the product. Ebros gift plays an interesting part in this sphere of influence as well. In my research of the company, I found that they are makers and sellers of a huge selection of Halloween themed gifts and decorations. It would seem that they are one of the largest suppliers to the market that Poe’s work exists in. Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most famous American authors in our relatively short history. There is a certain impact that he has created on pop culture as a whole. It is quite easy to find Poe themed gifts with a simple search on Amazon or Google, and it is amazing how an author is able to do this, especially when much of his work fits into such an unusual sphere that celebrates the unusual, strange, and uncanny. However, I believe it is exactly this reason why Poe has been able to infiltrate American pop culture so deeply and permanently for someone who died in 1849. His work has found, or even created a niche that nearly everyone is able to access. In America, Halloween is considered a major holiday, especially by the younger generations. The fact that Poe is so closely related to this holiday also means that there is a large potential audience that the work of Poe can reach every year. His connection to the dark, scary, gothic aesthetic that is portrayed in Halloween allows him to corner a market that is embraced every fall on October 31st.