He created a bronze bust of the King of Cthulhu, H. P. Lovecraft, and now sculptor Bryan Moore's next bust is paying tribute to another horror literature legend: Edgar Allan Poe. Poe will be immortalized in bronze in his hometown of Boston, and the bust's unveiling has been set for a very fitting day on the calendar.

Press Release: "Having just won a Rondo Award—given in celebration of the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation—for Best Fan Event for his 2013 H.P. Lovecraft Bronze Bust Project, sculptor Bryan Moore is now tackling Boston and its wayward son, Edgar Allan Poe, at the nation’s oldest public library, the Boston Public Library.

"I've always been a fan of both Lovecraft AND Poe as American authors who were truly emblematic of the horror genre," Moore asserts. "It seemed almost criminal to me that there weren't more tributes to them in the form of sculpture."

Since the Lovecraft bust fundraiser (via Kickstarter) was such a phenomenal success, many asked what was next for Moore—a series of author busts seemed to be a natural progression for the artist, and Moore reasoned that Poe is the undisputed king when it comes to lasting works of horror fiction.

Originally slated as a companion piece to the Lovecraft bust in Providence, plans changed when an opportunity materialized at the historic Boston Public Library which houses many busts of legendary authors in its hallowed halls.

Moore elaborates: "While Poe has certainly been the subject of sculptors the world over, I couldn't figure out why he was in museums and not libraries, where first time readers might be exposed to his macabre works for the first time."

The unveiling is slated for the evening of October 30, 2014 in the Boston Public Library’s breathtaking Abbey Room.

Rumor has it that October is to be declared "Poe Month" by the Mayor of Boston Marty Walsh—in addition to the Poe bust, Boston also has the honor of unveiling sculptor Steff Rocknak's dynamic Poe statue, "Poe Returning to Boston." The statue will be installed at the site of Poe’s birth, complete with ravens and pages ushering forth from his suitcase.

"While I was fully aware of Steff's beautiful sculpture, the Boston Public Library had given me the unveiling date commitment before I knew of the yet-to-be-announced statue unveiling of Steff's sculpture. I made sure to support that project with a personal donation and to extend the olive branch, so to speak, to make sure that I wasn't like a rogue paperboy selling papers on her corner! Steff has been great to me and I look forward to attending her unveiling on October 5, 2014,” Moore says.

The Edgar Allan Poe Bronze Bust Kickstarter fundraiser will be launched in the first week of June; more news to come.

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About Bryan Moore:

Bryan Moore began his sculpting career like many monster-obsessed youths by working in the film industry and churning out work in countless horror films with numbers after the titles, from the original Tales from the Darkside TV series to big budget films like the Underworld movies. During this time, he enjoyed an apprenticeship in Italy under the sculptor Fabrizzi Alatore doing restorative work on the remains of monks for the Celebrated Cemetery of the Capuchin Friars in Rome. He also lived in Tokyo sculpting miniatures for several amusement parks there, a staff sculptor at both Mattel Toys and Upper Deck Sports Collectibles, and now enjoys his true passion—sculpting private commissions. Moore seems to have created an unintentional niche for himself as one who celebrates the Devil in art; his limited editions of occult icons often sell out immediately.

In August of 2013, he had the pleasure of working with a talented team to bring a life-size bronze bust of noted horror author H.P. Lovecraft to the Providence Athenaeum. He also made a donation to the Children's Literacy Program as part of the project. The extraordinary success of the H.P. Lovecraft Bronze Bust Project led to the creation of a life-size bust of Edgar Allan Poe, which will be unveiled in the city of Boston in the Boston Public Library on October 30, 2014."

  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.