‘Poe in the Dark’ event held by English Honor Society
Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society held the annual “Poe in the Dark” event Tuesday at Utah State University to showcase the scary story writing and reading of faculty members and students.
Poe in the Dark is a chance for undergraduate students, graduate students and professors alike to read scary original and classic scary short stories and poems to a large audience.
Stephanie Pointer is a member of Sigma Tau Delta and helped plan, organize and set up the event.
“I am so proud to be an organizer of this event. It allows professors and students to interact in a way that they normally wouldn’t get the chance to,” Pointer said.
In order to read at the event, the participants had to audition to a committee of Sigma Tau Delta members.
“We had so many great stories and readers, and we are very proud of the lineup at this event. It is spooky how talented these people are,” said Jonah Blake, an organizer of Poe in the Dark.
Over 100 audience members stayed glued to the speakers as the participants read using cryptic, ominous and sometimes humorous voices.
Madison Vaughn is Sigma Tau Delta’s historian. She said she is not a big fan of scary stories and would much rather prefer to be behind the scenes of events like Poe in the Dark.
“The stories people read are just so good, they really do scare me sometimes. I can’t believe how much talent people (at USU) have,” Vaughn said.
Holley Stringham Eliza Owens, a freshman at USU, attended the event after hearing others talk about how scary the stories have been in the past.
“I enjoy a good, classic scary story. This atmosphere, being in the dark with a bunch of other scary story fans, just makes the stories that much better,” Owens said.
Professor Mary Ellen Greenwood chose to read “The Raven,” a classic piece of Edgar Allen Poe.
“I chose a classic piece by Poe, I figured someone had to pay homage to him at an event that bares his name. I chose this one in particular because it was the first poem I read that really, truly scared me,” Greenwood said.
Stories circled around a myriad of themes, including murder, monsters, spirits and mortality, in addition to what some say is the most prevalent and perhaps the most pointed theme, humanity.
“The scariest stories to me are the ones that deal with people, the ones that show just how scary people can really be,” said Janet Jewkes, a graduate student who read an excerpt from “Dracula” at the event.
Professor John Gamber, who teaches Native American history courses at USU, read “Discovering America” by Stephen Garham Jones at the event. The story follows the travels of a Native American man who is seen only for the color of his skin, rather than for the person he is.
“I wanted to read a story that represented what I teach and am interested in, and show another side of scary stories,” Gamber said.
Callie Anderson said her favorite stories were themed around the horrors of humanity as well.
“Some of the stories tonight scared me, not because of the monsters or ghosts, but because of the terrible things that people are capable of,” Anderson said.
This year marked the biggest turnout Poe in the Dark has ever drawn, Pointer said. She said Sigma Tau Delta is honored to put on this event to support USU’s creative writers and readers.
“I am leaving with some mind-bending scary stories in my head that are still sending chills down my back,” said Michael Jones, a student who attended the event despite his fear of “anything scary in word form.”
— Brianne Sorensen
@SorensenBrianne