Review: POE & MORE POE by Write Out Loud at the historic Villa Montezuma

If ever there was a house made to host the restless spirit of Edgar Allan Poe during the October spooky season, it’s the Villa Montezuma. The 1887 Queen Anne Victorian mansion is equal parts Gothic whimsy and jewel-box museum, which sets the perfect stage for“Poe & More Poe”, Write Out Loud’s annual immersion into the master of the macabre. Artistic Director Veronica Murphy and co-director Rachael VanWormer conjure an evening that is a spellbinding story hour.

Unlike a traditional stage production, audiences move through the rooms of the house in small groups, encountering different tales performed by San Diego’s most hauntingly talented storytellers. Each vignette is staged with care to both setting and atmosphere, Poe’s words unfolding by flickering light, reflected in stained glass, or whispered beneath carved wood ceilings.

The evening begins upstairs, where Rhianna Basore performs “MS. Found in a Bottle,” a lesser-known sea tale of storm and spectral ships. Her performance rolls and crashes like the waves themselves, surging with fear and wonder, and delivered in a way that draws you into the doomed voyage.

In the music room, “The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether” provides a more playful descent into madness. Laurence Brown’s gleefully mischievous superintendent is underlined with slight menace, and Liliana Talwatte’s wide-eyed visitor balances comedy and creeping dread, while Murphy and Walter Ritter appear as eccentric guests, adding delightful chaos. The acoustics of the ornate music room amplify both the laughter and the unease, making every echo resonate throughout the space and evoking a sense of creeping claustrophobia in the audience.

Then there’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Performed by Paul Maley, it’s the quintessential Poe fever dream, a confession wrapped in denial, a heartbeat that refuses to stay buried. Maley’s intensity is riveting; he’s already trembling when you enter the space, nervously looking out the windows, and by the time he pleads his case for sanity, the audience is as breathless as he is.

The Villa Montezuma itself deserves co-star billing. Built for pianist and spiritualist Jesse Shepard, the mansion’s blend of Victorian, Gothic, and Moorish architecture becomes a character with each stained glass panel and carved archway echoing the ornate anxieties of Poe’s prose. The house is not haunted, we’re told emphatically, but they will say “enchanted.” After this evening, one suspects that either is correct.

“Poe & More Poe” is a masterclass in immersive storytelling, celebrating atmosphere and artistry. Literary, intimate, and a delightfully dreadful evening that proves Poe’s genius still beats, loudly, and insistently in our collective imagination. 

How to Get Tickets

“Poe & More Poe” performances run Fridays and Saturdays through November 1, with three showtimes nightly (6:00, 7:30, and 9:00 p.m.) at 1925 K Street in Sherman Heights. Tickets are $30 and frequently sell out—so reserve early, if you dare writeoutloudsd.com

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