About this episode

This episode explores the haunting legends surrounding Annabel Lee and Juliet's Tomb in Charleston.

Find the grave of Annabel Lee and you find the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe! In this episode, a hand-drawn map pulls us through a locked iron gate into Charleston's most overgrown churchyard, where legends gather like mist and names disappear into leaves. A lady in white wanders the paths. Sixty-four people have collapsed before this very gate. We follow the trail of Annabel Lee—the girl Poe loved, or invented, or summoned—and uncover the stranger story beneath the legend: a visiting scholar who survived war and exile, stood before Juliet's Tomb in Verona, and quietly planted a grave that may never have existed. The map points toward a burial—but the real treasure may be hidden elsewhere. What if the grave was a lie but the lie was true? Sources: The Ghosts of Charleston by Julian Buxton Edgar Allan Poe's Charleston by Christopher Byrd Downey A History Lover's Guide to Charleston by Christopher Byrd Downey Unburied Treasure: Edgar Allan Poe in the South Carolina Lowcountry Scott Peeples, Michelle Van Parys Southern Cultures, Vol. 22, No. 2 Haunted Charleston by Sarah Pitzer Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe- The Final Mystery by Julian Wiles Source for Alexander Lenard: Primary Sources by…

Topics covered

• society
• culture
• personal
• journals
• arts

More episodes of Pleasing Terrors

• Charleston Gothic: Part 6- Ghostly Alchemy · February 22, 2026 · 47 min
• Charleston Gothic: Part 5- The Unfortunate Pirate · January 24, 2026 · 1h 22m
• Charleston Gothic: Part 4- Tekeli · January 11, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Charleston Gothic: Part 2- Buried Treasures · December 14, 2025 · 54 min
• Charleston Gothic: Part 1- Night Sea Journey · November 19, 2025 · 1h 3m
• The Descent: Part 3- Lost · November 4, 2025 · 50 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Pleasing Terrors podcast page.