I headed into Baltimore this afternoon to hang out with Ellen Datlow after she finished rehearsing for Edgar Allan Poe’s funeral (which will take place Sunday), and sat with Kristine Dikeman while Ellen and the other participants ran through the staging of their eulogies.

What I enjoyed most of all—aside from catching up with Kris in hushed whispers while the director and/or stage manager put the living and dead through their paces—was seeing John Astin rehearse his role as MC. I’ve loved his work, as amazing as this might sound, since before he was Gomez Addams, back when he starred in a show called I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster.

Once Ellen was done practicing her walk across the stage and talk into the microphone, she and I and Kris headed over to Fells Point (where the two of them were staying) and had dinner at John Stevens Tavern. There we are below after we discussed zombies, steampunk, steampunk zombies, collaboration, stalkers, and many other things I’m far too tired to remember. (The 200-mile round trip does take its toll, after all.)

Check here to see further photos—though the bulk of them won’t appear until after the actual funeral.

And now I’d better get some sleep if I have any hope of making it to the Baltimore Comic-Con tomorrow!