Considered the godfather of the Gothic genre, Edgar Allan Poe transcended mere literature to become the leading figure of all the dark, twisted things that lurk in the human psyche.

He saw beauty where others shivered in fear, and lived on the perpetual edge of reality and destruction. In short, he has become as much a myth as a man, and so what better subject for a tattoo?

There are so many ways to give Poe a nod in ink, it truly depends on you as the individual, and what facets of the Poe aesthetic you’re drawn to. Maybe it’s his eternal raven of “Nevermore,” or a more obscure reference from a favorite poem or story. The author’s own hollow-eyed presence makes for sublime tattoo portraiture, particularly when accompanied by said raven or the faint outline of his beloved Annabel Lee. While it’s universally agreed upon that black & white is the ink of choice where Edgar Allan Poe’s world is concerned, you can most certainly add your own bold, ominous strokes of color.

The work of Poe heralded in a new era and genre, and misfits have looked to him for centuries as a kind of alternative example to the status quo. Poe dwelled in the netherworld, and his untimely death suggests he preferred it to the one above. A Poe tattoo not only suggests a similar preference in the wearer, but an understanding of and empathy for the misplaced souls who still wander the earth in search of a home.