Cellar
Makes me think of my grandparents. We call 'em basements- they called
'em cellars. Cellar - Cell - prison - dungeon-
The Tell-tale Heart. The Black Cat.
I visited the Philadelphia home of Edgar Allan Poe recently. A small
unassuming brick house, which has had rooms added. Set among housing
projects which are deteriorated, cluttered, and scary to this
sheltered writer, although they are populated with the living. The
house is interesting in its starkness. They didn't know how to
recreate the way it looked, so it is empty. The many layers of paint
are stripped away in a lot of places. It seems people were looking for
dead bodies in the walls...
Then there is the basement. Steep steps lead down into what would be a
dark, dank place. But they have it lit, but with red tinted plastic
sheets over the windows, casting a strange light- so you can see there
are holes in the walls- bricks missing, a fireplace revealed (read the
Black Cat!). It leaves it to your imagination darken it, to populate
the cellar with crates, shovels, plaster, spiders, ???? - Whatever
your mind most fears. Tell me now. Small noises in the night? Empty
houses? Strange lights? Scampering little creatures? Strangers with
hooded eyes at the door? Wind through the creaking branches at night?
Don't hold back- let it out- experience it fully.
© 1998 trc
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