Poe's Shadows Returns: "The Tell-Tale Heart" Crankie

Abstract

"The Tell-Tale Heart" crankie was made for an especial event that brings back excerpts of the original 2018 theatrical installation "Poe's Shadows." As visual communications professor Meaghan Dee phrased it when asked about the inspiration for the crankie, she explained that "In Appalachia there’s this older form of storytelling that goes back hundreds of years called Crankies, where you have a long scroll, whether it’s painted, or done in a different way, the visual is revealed. As you turn these cranks, the scroll reveals more of the image. And, our thinking was, that since Edgar Allan Poe grew up in Virginia, that he might have grown up seeing stories presented in this way."