During the summer of 1826, fifteen-year-old Edgar Allan Poe hears a disturbing, low laugh while sketching and writing in a Richmond cemetery. He follows the raspy voice into a crypt where he sees a crouching figure, a cadaverous ghoul who transforms before Edgar's eyes into a boy who looks just like him.

When the boy vanishes leaving only the echoes of his laughter, Edgar is forced to question his sanity.

Edgar first confides solely in his best friend Robert Stannard. As his evil twin continues to reappear throughout the summer wreaking supernatural chaos with each encounter, Edgar meets the beautiful and fiery-spirited Elmira Royster. Together with these two friends and a one-eyed black cat that harbors an incredible secret, Edgar navigates a series of uncanny events as frightening as any of the tales the adult Poe would later write.

But which Edgar would remain to become the author we know so well?