Bloomington’s favorite musical mastermind returns for his annual Halloween performance this year celebrating Edgar Allan Poe – in Silent Films and Radio Drama. Dennis James will provide the soundtrack on IU Auditorium’s 4,543 pipe organ for a pair of classic silent films and a live radio reenactment themed around Poe and his writings.

The evening will begin with a short film titled Edgar Allen Poe (the misspelling is purposeful) showing Poe was inspired to write his most famous poem, “The Raven,” as he desperately tries to sell it to support his sick wife. Then, back by popular demand, live actors including students from IU’s Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance will reenact another episode from the 1940s radio drama Inner Sanctum called “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The episode is a dramatization of Poe’s famous story of a man who could hear every sound on Earth, even things that did not exist.

The featured silent film that James will bring to life is titled The Avenging Conscience, a 1915 classic based on Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and his poem “Annabelle Lee.” Join us in costume as James celebrates one of America’s greatest writers in what has become an IU Auditorium tradition for over 50 years and counting!