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A small group of visitors huddles together, braced against the crisp October air on a “dull, dark, and soundless day.”
The fading sun casts shadows across a manicured lawn and glints off the sparkling river that borders the estate. An alarmed chorus ripples through the ranks of geese that traverse the grounds, shattering the eerie silence.
As dusk encroaches, a figure emerges from the doorway of the centuries-old house, beckoning the wary travelers into the “mansion of gloom.” The door creaks ominously as they step inside. They pause. They do not yet know what “shadowy fancies” will leap out from the gilded corners.
No, this is not the start of an Edgar Allan Poe story. But it is a small slice — embellished with quotes from Poe’s famous story, “Fall of the House of Usher” — of what visitors can expect on “A ‘Grotesque’ Tour at Dusk,” hosted by Andalusia Historic House, Gardens & Arboretum this October.
“It is about being spooky, but it’s also about sharing a certain history and sharing aspects of the Andalusia site that are unique and special,” said John Vick, executive director of the Andalusia Foundation, the nonprofit that stewards the National Historic Landmark in Bensalem Township, Bucks County.
It’s the second year the museum is offering the Poe tours, Vick said, which allow visitors to walk through the historic home after dark while being treated to dramatic interpretations of several stories from the writer’s collection, “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.”
The purpose is not just to revel in spooky season — although that is part of the appeal, Vick acknowledged. At the heart of the Poe tours is celebrating the lauded literary figure’s connection to the estate.
Poe visited Andalusia in the fall of 1840, at the invitation of Nicholas Biddle, its then-proprietor and resident, Vick said. The writer was residing in Philadelphia, where he lived for six years while producing some of his most well-known work, including “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and more.
“Poe, of course, was a great writer, but Nicholas Biddle was a really brilliant literary mind, as well,” Vick said, referring to the prominent Philadelphia financier and editor.
The two men had corresponded, and Poe, who was experiencing financial difficulties, might have visited Biddle to ask for support for an upcoming publication or an introduction to others in Biddle’s social circle, Vick said. The details are lost to time.
“We don’t really know what they talked about, but [Poe] did write a letter afterwards to Nicholas saying it was really wonderful of you to host me at Andalusia,” he said. The confirmation of Poe’s visit to the estate is “exciting” for Andalusia, Vick said, because Biddle typically entertained guests in his Philadelphia home rather than the mansion along the Delaware River.
Poe followed up his visit by sending Biddle a signed first edition of “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.” All of the stories presented on the tours are drawn from that work.
The house’s history and Greek Revival architecture, as well as the writer’s presence in its hallways, help bring the horror stories to life, Vick said.
“I just had fun and let my imagination try to picture Andalusia in the stories of Poe’s book,” he said. “That’s sort of fabricated. Poe was not inspired by Andalusia, but I do think the stories are very much at home here.”
Poe and Biddle could have sat in the library, the very room where Lisa Panzer, an actor and guide at Andalusia, will perform the first of the stories.
“I think that this is probably where they sat,” Vick said. “And if not, they must have at least walked through the house and been in here at some point.”
