“Poe’s Playground,“ an art exhibition inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, is showing at Linden Row Inn.  The show, organized by 1708 Gallery, features work by Edgar Allan Poe Museum curator Chris Semtner, Caryl Burtner, Jamie Burwell Mixon, Mark Chatterley, Kathryn Henry-Choisser, John Moser, Amie Oliver and Noah Scalin.

The Library of Virginia in downtown Richmond recently partnered with the Poe Museum to open a major exhibition in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe.  The exhibition, “Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster,“ examines the life of the legendary writer. It features more than 100 digital and original items and three interactive stations: “Poe’s Words” offers readings from Poe’s works, “Poe in Film” spotlights the 1928 silent film “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “Fact or Fiction” allows visitors to test their Poe-related knowledge.

Eerie, fearsome, terrifying, frightening, thrilling—all words indicative of the mystery surrounding Edgar Allan Poe’s life and the tone of his works.  From a glance at those colorful adjectives covering the dark vinyl walls of the “Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster” exhibit at the Library of Virginia, one can tell that this showcase is anything but ordinary.

If you go Where: Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St.  When: Starting Monday; through Dec. 5 Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday Admission: Free Info: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/ or (804) 692-3500

Things were dark at The National last night. Very dark. Of course, when you base an entire program on Richmond’s favorite poet, writer and teller of terror tales—Edgar Allan Poe—that is to be expected. But to be honest, the talents who came together to continue the bicentennial celebration of Poe’s birth actually made it fun, for the most part.

The Poe Museum will celebrate its namesake’s 200th birthday with an all-day birthday bash today. The museum on Main Street in Shockoe Bottom opened at 12:01 a.m. to celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday with a champagne toast at his shrine in the museum’s Enchanted Gardens. Poe, who was born in Boston and spent part of his childhood in Richmond, is renowned for dark, macabre works such as “The Raven,“ “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.“ Poe died in Baltimore on Oct. 7, 1849.

Other cities claim Edgar Allan Poe as their own, but Richmond provided the stage for the poet’s return to national life. A new stamp honoring Poe on his 200th birthday was unveiled yesterday at the Library of Virginia with reflections by a distant cousin and a stirring reading of one of his best-known poems. Harry Lee Poe, whose great-great-grandfather was Poe’s cousin, lauded his relation as a path-breaking writer whose influence has been felt far beyond the American literary tradition he helped create.

To celebrate the bicentennial year of Richmond’s favorite son, a host of local museums, historical sites, libraries and performing-arts groups are joining forces for a citywide, yearlong celebration of the man, his works and his life.  Here’s a look at what’s going on.

Richmond celebrates the 200th birthday of its favorite son.

Two hundred years ago Monday, Edgar Allan Poe was born to the nightmare-inducing delight of readers everywhere.  Born in Boston, died in Baltimore, writer of some of his great works while in Philadelphia and others while in New York, Poe is claimed by Richmond as one of our own. He moved here when he was 2 his mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, died here and is buried at St. John’s Church, and he took the name Allan in honor of the Richmond family that raised him. He spent more of his 40 years here than anywhere else.