Thread: Edgar Allan Poe's Raven party ideas?

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We always do a loose theme, based on our own costumes, for our parties. This year we are doing a Poe theme, mostly based on the Raven... Any recipes or unique ideas to go with this theme? Maybe not just Poe, but literary or something related?

I am thinking the punch will be Raven's Blood, I have a jello heart mold to make a "telltale heart"... not sure what else

Chicken skewers or wings as raven meat, maybe "blackened" drummies or something similar

Lenore's Lemon Squares or something like that, play on alliteration if you can't directly connect the theme - literary fans will respect it

This isnt food, but Dollar Tree had little black feather birds earlier this year and last year, but they went fast last year (I paid like $5 each at Michaels for similar ones).

Hi Dark Maiden
The newest issue of Halloween tricks and treats has a four page spread on an Edgar Allen Poe Party (pgs 22- 25). It has some cute ideas. I will list some additional ideas below:

Martha Stewart sells raven cutouts at Michaels and has raven templates online. Place ravens on walls, and hang ravens from the ceiling and light fixtures.

Rites Aid, the Dollar Tree, and Michaels all sell ravens of different sizes. Attach ravens to tree limbs, place ravens in a cage, or place them on top of a copy of Edgar Allen Poe's books.

Use black feathers (available at craft stores) everywhere and on everything. Glue to place cards, buffet labels, signs, inside centerpieces, on table runners.

Buy various copies of Edgar Allen Poe books and create piled book displays around the party area. Or create your own Edgar Allen Poe book jackets and cover books you already own. I will include a list of his other books below.

Print out a large picture of Edgar Allen Poe.

Create and author's display: include an ink well with quill, tea stained paper with a couple of lines from the raven, and various inspirational objects (ravens, hearts, skulls etc), pictures of Edgar Allen Poe... his family... his home... etc.

Frame pages from his books (writings and pictures), or frame reviews of his work.

Find Famous Quotes of Edgar Allen Poe and place around room. Or use slips of paper with quotes on them as napkin rings. Use a different quote for each place setting.

Keep the color scheme black and white. Paint old looking plates, candle holders, vases etc with black or white spray paint. If you don’t own any, you can find them at yard sales and thrift stores. Fill vases with black and white fake flowers, fill candle holders with black and white candles etc.

Cover funiture in white sheets. Drape white cobwebs around the room

Incorporate other themes from his books.
“His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_allan_poe
Therefore you can place skulls, coffins, skeletons, etc. around the room

And don’t forget a “tell-tale” heart.

Selected list of works

Tales
• "The Black Cat"
• "The Cask of Amontillado"
• "A Descent into the Maelström"
• "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"
• "The Fall of the House of Usher"
• "The Gold-Bug"
• "Hop-Frog"
• "Ligeia"
• "The Masque of the Red Death"
• "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
• "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt"
• "The Oval Portrait"
• "The Pit and the Pendulum"
• "The Premature Burial"
• "The Purloined Letter"
• "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether"
• "The Tell-Tale Heart"
Poetry
• "Al Aaraaf"
• "Annabel Lee"
• "The Bells"
• "The City in the Sea"
• "The Conqueror Worm"
• "A Dream Within a Dream"
• "Eldorado"
• "Eulalie"
• "The Haunted Palace"
• "To Helen"
• "Lenore"
• "Tamerlane"
• "The Raven"
• "Ulalume
• "
Other works
• Politian (1835) – Poe's only play
• The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) – Poe's only complete novel
• "The Balloon-Hoax" (1844) – A journalistic hoax printed as a true story
• "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) – Essay
• Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848) – Essay
• "The Poetic Principle" (1848) – Essay
• "The Light-House" (1849) – Poe's last incomplete work
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_allan_poe

Somewhere, somehow...roses and cognac.

I used this image on invites a few years ago, and placed a black feather inside each one.
http://www.benrey.com/birds/raven.htm