The circumstances surrounding the death of famed writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe are just as sordid as the details of his relatively short life. Poe met his end at the young age of forty in 1849, just days after being found barely conscious in the gutter in Baltimore, in what was reported to be some sort of raging stupor. To this day, the actual cause of his death is hotly debated by historians, both of the armchair and professional varieties. Theories still abound concerning Poe’s demise, ranging from diseases such as rabies, syphilis, or a brain tumor, to alcoholism and drug abuse, to suicide, and beyond. Continue reading →