Edgar Allan Poe House (Baltimore, MD)

The Edgar Allan Poe House haunting is a collection of paranormal stories focused on the former home of Edgar Allan Poe in Baltimore. People have reported feeling strange energy, hearing unexplained sounds, and seeing ghostly figures there. Many believe these hauntings are connected to Poe, his family, or an unknown woman often seen on the upper floors.

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Overview

Attribute	Details
Name	Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum
Other Names	The Poe House, 203 North Amity Street
Address	203 North Amity Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21223
Country	United States
Coordinates	39.2915° N, 76.6332° W
Nearest City	Baltimore
Property Type	Federal-style brick rowhouse
Built / Established	Circa 1830
Closed/Abandoned	Still in use (as a museum)
Owner	City of Baltimore (operated by Poe Baltimore)
Type of Haunting	Residual, Apparitions, Intelligent
Manifestations	Shadowy figures, tapping on shoulders, muttering voices, cold spots, windows opening/shutting, moving lights
Tragic Events & Causes	Poverty of the Poe family; Illness and death of Elizabeth Cairnes Poe; Mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe
Known Entities	Edgar Allan Poe, a heavyset middle-aged woman in grey
Fear Rating	4/10 (Mildly Unsettling) [See Explanation]
First Recorded Sighting	1949 (following the opening of the museum)
Most Recent Sighting	June 2025 – Visitors reported cold spots and tapping sensations in the attic room
Activity Level	5/10 (Moderate Activity) [See Explanation]
Current Status	Open as a museum
Open to the Public?	Yes; tickets can be purchased for guided or self-guided tours
Best Time to Visit	October (during the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival)
Danger Warning	Structural limitations (steep, narrow stairs); no reported paranormal physical harm
Similar Haunted Locations	Edgar Allan Poe Cottage (Bronx), Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, The Horse You Came In On Saloon, Hampton Mansion, Baleroy Mansion, Eastern State Penitentiary, Grumblethorpe, Fort Mifflin, Betsy Ross House, Mount Wilson Sanitarium, Lord Baltimore Hotel, USS Constellation, Catacombs of Westminster, Admiral Fell Inn, Carroll Mansion, Barksdale Area

Edgar Allan Poe House’s Haunted History

The house at 203 North Amity Street became important in the early 1830s. It was a typical rowhouse for working-class families in Baltimore. In 1832, Edgar Allan Poe’s aunt, Maria Clemm, rented it.

She lived there with her daughter, Virginia Clemm, and her sick mother, Elizabeth Cairnes Poe. Edgar Allan Poe moved in with them in 1833 when he was 23. The family struggled with poverty and depended on Elizabeth’s pension, as she was the widow of a Revolutionary War veteran.

During his time in the house, Poe stayed in a small attic room with a sharply sloped ceiling. He wrote some of his early stories there, like “MS. Found in a Bottle” and “Berenice.” Fans often say the dark themes in these stories add to the house’s eerie feeling.

Elizabeth Cairnes Poe died in the house in 1835, which added to its sad history. Soon after, the family moved to Richmond, and over the next hundred years, many different people lived in the house.

In the 1930s, the city planned to tear down the building to make way for the Poe Homes public housing project. The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore stepped in and saved the house. It became a museum in 1949.

Since the museum opened, staff and visitors have reported many strange events, as if former residents never left. The house still has its original narrow stairs and low ceilings from the 1830s, which many say make it feel cramped and eerie.

Local Legends

The Edgar Allan Poe House has inspired many local legends about its hauntings. These stories often mix real struggles the Poe family faced with unproven tales.

The Heavyset Lady in Grey

The most well-known legend is about the ghost of a middle-aged, heavyset woman in grey. Unlike reports of Poe’s ghost, which many think are just fans’ imagination, sightings of this woman have come from people who didn’t know the house’s history.

Some say she was a neighbor or a later tenant who died in the house, while others think she is a protective spirit. People most often see her on the stairs or in the kitchen doorway.

The Attic Tapping

Visitors and ghost hunters often talk about the Attic Tapper legend. Local stories say Poe was so focused on writing that his spirit still taps out rhythms on the floor or even on visitors’ shoulders. Many people have reported hearing a steady tapping from the second-floor ceiling when no one is in the attic.

Reported Ghosts

People say there are two main ghosts at the Edgar Allan Poe House. The first is Poe himself, described as a thin man in dark, old-fashioned clothes with pale skin. Some claim to see him in the attic corner or looking out the small windows.

The other often-seen ghost is the Woman in Grey. She looks so real that people sometimes think she is alive, until she disappears when they get close. While Poe’s ghost is linked to a serious or thoughtful mood, the Woman in Grey is said to bring a heavy or watchful feeling, especially in the lower rooms.

Documented Sightings Timeline

Witness	Date	Details
Museum Staff	1949	Reports of footsteps and muttering voices heard during the museum’s inaugural year.
Anonymous Visitor	1960s	Claimed to feel a “firm hand” on their shoulder while standing in the attic study.
Renovation Workers	1979	Discovery of animal bones beneath floorboards led to reports of “unease” and “phantom scratching” sounds.
Jeff Jerome (Curator)	1980s-2000s	Multiple accounts of windows found wide open despite being locked from the inside.
Tour Group	October 2011	Several members reported a “cold spot” that moved through the center of the parlor.
Ghost Detectives Team	May 2012	Reported spikes in electromagnetic fields and capturing “muttering” on audio recording devices.
Anonymous Tourist	June 2025	Reported seeing a “grey blur” moving toward the kitchen area during a self-guided tour.

Paranormal Activity

Strange events at the Edgar Allan Poe House have happened for many years. The activity is rarely aggressive. Instead, people often hear footsteps on the narrow stairs or see windows open and close for no clear reason.

During Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) sessions at the house, people have recorded low, unclear muttering that doesn’t sound like normal speech. Staff have also noticed that strange activity increases in October, around the time of Poe’s death anniversary.

Notable Investigations

A major investigation happened in May 2012, led by a research team called The Ghost Detectives. They worked with Jeff Jerome, the museum’s long-time curator, who let them into the most active parts of the house.

The team used specialized equipment, including Geophone vibration sensors, digital voice recorders, infrared cameras, and Mel-Meters to detect changes in electromagnetic fields and temperature.

The investigators focused on the small attic room and the narrow stairs leading up to it. During the night, they recorded several Class-B EVPs, described as low, male muttering when no one was upstairs. In the parlor, they also found sudden EMF spikes exceeding 5.0 milligauss, which couldn’t be explained by the building’s simple electrical system.

The team concluded that the house sometimes shows signs of intelligent activity. They said the strongest evidence was the rhythmic tapping picked up by vibration sensors on the attic floor, which seemed to answer when the team spoke to it.

Jerome remained skeptical but open-minded, while the Ghost Detectives officially declared the site “active” after their findings matched earlier accounts of the Attic Tapper.

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