People appreciate Edgar Allen Poe now. When he died in 1849 only 10 people came to his funeral, but on October 11 when the Poe House and Museum staff give him the sendoff they think he deserved 350 mourners will attend each of two services. The macabre tribute is part of a year-long celebration of the 200th year of Poe’s birth.

A coffin holding a replica of Poe’s body will be the centerpiece. John Astin, best known as Gomez Addams on TV’s “The Addams Family,” will serve as master of ceremonies: 

“It’s sort of a way of saying, ‘Well, Eddie, your first funeral wasn’t a very good one, but we’re going to try to make it up to you, because we have so much respect for you,'” said Astin, who toured as Poe for years in a one-man show.

I think if Poe wasn’t dead already when they put him in the coffin, waking to discover Gomez Addams presiding over his funeral would finish the job.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]