Darling Eddy

Synopsis:

Late July, 1849: the lonely, disconsolate and nearly indigent Edgar Allan Poe leaves Philadelphia by train.

Poe appears at widow Elmira Shelton’s front door in Richmond, Virginia. As teenagers, the pair had been engaged. Life’s events have kept them apart, but their mutual attraction is still palpable.

Poe visits the Shelton residence frequently. He courts Elmira (“Ellie”), and she responds positively, although she stands to lose most of her inheritance if she were to marry Poe.

Poe indulges in bouts of drinking that bring on hallucinations in which he relives tragic events of his life (the death of his mother when he was three, the death of his brother, the death of his young wife Virginia).

Poe and Ellie spend the night together; the next morning they become engaged. Ellie’s two children return from being away because of a recent cholera epidemic in the city. They do not approve of Poe’s presence or reputation, and feel they will be cheated out of their inheritance if he marries their mother.

Ellie’s son Southall Shelton releases a rabid cat in Poe’s path as he approaches the front door of the residence. Reaching out to stroke the cat, Poe is scratched on the hand.

To convince Ellie he intends to swear off liquor in order to marry her, Poe joins the Sons of Temperance (an early version of AA). He wants to purchase a wedding ring, and must travel to Philadelphia on business in order to earn the needed funds. Ellie does not want him to go, but cannot dissuade him.

Poe departs on a steamboat for Baltimore, and experiences severe hallucinations wherein he becomes a role player in several of his own fantastic, haunting stories: A Descent into the Maelstrom, The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Masque of the Red Death.

Poe is discovered in a near-catatonic state near a pub in Baltimore. He is hospitalized but soon dies, finally rejoining his dead mother, young wife and brother.

In the final scene, C. Auguste Dupin, the detective from several of Poe’s most famous stories, renders his verdict regarding the mysterious death of his “benefactor”: Poe died from a case of non-hydrophobic rabies.

Note/Disclaimer: No AI application was used to compose any portion of this synopsis or script.