Long before Gotham City was captured on film or rendered in graphic digital art, its foundation was laid on a quiet park bench in the Bronx. In 1939, comic co-creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane sat under the trees in Poe Park—just steps from the historic cottage where Edgar Allan Poe spent his final years—and brainstormed the mythos that would define modern detective storytelling. From naming Gotham City to conceptualizing iconic figures like Robin, Catwoman, and the Joker, the Bronx stands as the true birthplace of the Caped Crusader.

Join us on a tour of Edgar Allan Poe’s Cottage, guided by Dr. Steven Payne, Director of the Bronx County Historical Society. We’re at the very beginning of a seismic shift for Poe Cottage, and Dr. Payne talks about the various stages of future development and what we have in place right now.

Poe Cottage presents our very own Halloween Special! We will film Storytelling Live at the Cottage and premiere on Youtube at 10pm Eastern. We’ll be there live in the chat. Tune in, grab a blankie, and snuggle up as we listen to Poe’s THE BLACK CAT and a few extra special cool videos of music and mayhem to round out our evening of Trick or Treating.