Happy Halloween - Cause of Death Theory #4 - MURDER

Did someone want Poe dead?

Around the time of Poe's death, there were rumors that robbers had beaten him and taken his possessions, which is why he was wearing strange clothing, but what if he was beaten by someone who knew him?  Poe was engaged to marry Elmira Shelton, his high school sweetheart. When they were young, Elmira's father hid Poe's letters from her when Poe went away to college. Elmira ended up marrying another man, but when her husband died, and Poe's wife Virginia died, the two rekindled their romance.  Is it possible that someone else in the family also disapproved of the relationship? Perhaps Elmira's brothers? 

John Evangelist Walsh wrote an intriguing book called Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. He analyzed the last few weeks of Poe's life and came to the conclusion that Poe was killed by someone he knew. Was his death intentional, or was someone just trying to frighten him and they went too far? 

We may never know the real cause of Poe's death, but if you read my new book, The Raven Remix: A Mashup of Poe Titles, you will get to explore several theories about how he died. To review this month's blog posts on the subject, check out the links below.

Theory #1 came about when a strange mass was found in Poe's skull when his body was exhumed and moved to a better gravesite. 

Theory #2 was discussed in the Maryland Medical Journal.

Theory #3 can be traced back to a strange type of voter fraud prevalent in the 1800s.

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