A Tell Tale Vlog

Written by: Michelle Gajewski

Throughout October, a peculiar person began vlogging – Ed Poe… er Edgar Allen Poe.

Thanks to the creative team of Shipwrecked., viewers get a hilarious glimpse into Mr. Poe’s creative writing process as he attempts to write a poem (that viewers will recognize as The Raven) for his new houseguest, the ghost Lenore. She was looking for a haunt and was set-up by her ‘bff Annabelle Lee’ to stay at Poe’s creepy abode.

Shot in a reality-tv confession style complete with ever-changing chyrons, Lenore spends her camera time complaining about her afterlife issues that mainly involve Poe and his oddities—beating hearts in the floorboards and raven poop are not something a lady ghost wants to deal with. Poe, on the other hand, demonstrates his morose and self-depreciating nature with few futile attempts at being arrogant [who sits in front of a huge self-portrait while they vlog anyway?].

What I enjoyed most was the effortless juxtaposition of the series. The poem’s formal language as spoken by Poe and Lenore’s valleyspeak and use of slang enhances the comedic dialogue. Poe also slips in and out of more modern speech patterns when addressing the audience or Lenore, offering a fun glimpse into the persona he tries to exemplify. The candle-lit scenery, coupled with the sinister opening violin theme, perfectly set (real) Poe’s signature macabre mood that greatly contrasts with the dialogue.

Sean and Sinead Persaud do an excellent job of portraying their respective characters and work wonderfully on-screen together. In Ep. 6 where Lenore breaks some bad news to Poe is now one of my favourite on-screen confrontations, not only because of the dialogue, but also the entertaining facial expressions that makes their argument seem authentic (for a vlog anyway).

The overall plot is simple, but Shipwrecked. has managed to put an amusing spin on a great literary work to make this mini-webseries an incredibly entertaining 13 minutes. Both diehard Poe fans and those who may only be familiar with the Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror portrayal alike can surely appreciate A Tell Tale Vlog.

Watch it here.