Edgar Allan Poe’s power to inspire artists of various different mediums and styles has been a significant factor of his enduring popularity, as has the man and the mystery himself. Whilst the academia hauntings of M.R. James and the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft have experienced something of a renaissance in recent times, E.A. Poe has always been a lingering presence. His meandering stories featuring such things as the onset of plague in a quarantined complex, troubles at sea, a murderer preying upon victims in their homes in the streets of Paris and quite frequently the haunting phantasms of guilt and grief and loss. At the times the supernatural drifts in, it is frequently with a disconcerting subtlety, even when wreathed in Gothic robes. His horrors are relatable, timeless and ultimately haunting and therefore they and Poe endure.
Poe found his way into the lives of other readers and other creatives – the visual artists, the filmmakers and writers such as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket and even Marvel comics creator Stan Lee, his influence and inspiration remains a persistent vitality like the echo of a beating heart or a strange mewling behind the walls. And there’s another thing, possibly more than any other author of strange tales, Poe has proven inspirational to many musicians – Sergei Rachmaninoff, The Alan Parsons Project, Philip Glass, Lou Reed, Tangerine Dream, are just some of the diverse acts to release music motivated by Poe.
Andy Paciorek (extract from the preface to the anthology of stories “E.A. Poe - Mysterium, Incubus et Terror” published by Eighth Tower).
To pay the right tribute to the literature of Edgar Allan Poe, Eighth Tower has called musicians from various countries and asked them their musical interpretation of 10 classic stories from the superlative productions of the American Master.