Raven’s Hollow Comes To Shudder With A Different Poe Horror

In this episode of Castle Talk, Jason chats with Christopher Hatton, writer/director of Raven’s Hollow, a horror film that features Edgar Allan Poe as its protagonist in a supernatural mystery. The film was released on Shudder back on September 22nd.

Based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe, Raven’s Hollow stars William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Melanie Zanetti (Love and Monsters), and Multi-Award-Winning Actress Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones). Say the producers:

Raven’s Hollow is set in Autumn, 1830. West Point military Cadet Edgar Allan Poe and four  other cadets on a training exercise in upstate New York come upon a man eviscerated on a bizarre wooden rack. His dying words direct them to a forgotten community, which they believe is guarding sinister secrets. Enthralled by the Innkeeper’s beautiful and mysterious daughter Charlotte and fuelled by the town resident’s refusal to speak to the murder, Poe determines to uncover the truth. Risking his life and more, Poe ultimately comes face to face with the terror that will haunt him forever. A rare film that explores the early days of Poe’s life while serving in the military as a backdrop, Hatton’s film brings together history and fiction to create a truly unique British supernatural period horror rich with dark gothic imagery.

Hatton discusses writing the film and getting to find fantasy in an aspect of Poe that’s rarely discussed– his early military career, where, for murky reasons, Poe first excelled at and then was expelled from United States Military Academy West Point in Upstate New York. The film plays with Poe’s supernatural stories as well as his creation of the detective novel. The conversation also touches on the strange quality of films set in America filmed overseas with an almost all-British cast.

Check out the Trailer:

Jason Henderson hosts the Castle of Horror and Castle Talk Podcasts, the “Castle of Horror Anthology” series editor. The newest volume is Castle of Horror Anthology Volume 8: Thinly Veiled 80s. He is the author of The Serpent’s Nest: Young Captain Nemo from Macmillan Children’s Books. His most recent book is 18 Miles from Town: a Midlife Crisis Thriller.