The hotel’s library provides a most appropriate venue for bringing to life the poetry, literature, love, despair and humour of the troubled Edgar Allan Poe.

The dimly lit room houses a small table, a lectern and a man, dark of hair and moustache, with a cadaverous face. Poe is brought to life by the one-man Raving Theatre.

He speaks of early influences and his twin obsessions – beauty and death – that define his work. The frequent theme of the “death of a beautiful woman” stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his life, including his wife, Virginia.

The writing process for his famous poem The Raven is explained and then dramatically recited.

As well as horror, Poe wrote humorous tales using irony and ludicrous extravagance for comic effect. One such example, The Scythe Of Time, is finely acted out. But it is the masterly storytelling of The Tell Tale Heart that is the evening’s highlight. The unnamed actor is truly spellbinding.

Around these dramatic renditions are ramblings and rantings as drink and madness take hold. The actor gives a remarkable performance conveying Poe’s varying moods and works but occasionally lets his voice drop causing words to be lost.