On October 3, 1849, passers-by found a helpless man, fallen into delirium, on the street. Unable to discern his words, they did manage to get him to the hospital immediately.
The man in question was Edgar Allan Poe, who died several days later, without anyone finding any clue about what led to his sudden demise. The medical documents describing his condition had mysteriously disappeared from the hospital.
Truly ironic indeed that the father of detective novels had died under circumstances just as mysterious as those he often wrote about in his stories.
The previous night the writer had mentioned the name "Reynolds" several times but did not specify what exactly he meant.
There are several theories about what could have led to his death. Since Poe was not lacking vices, the proposed hypotheses include alcoholism, syphilis, meningitis, even suicide.
Some accounts go even further, claiming to have information that Poe participated in occult practices, some of which put his life in danger.
Supposedly, during a ritual of this sort, the writer intentionally put himself through physical torture which eventually led to his death. In occultic circles, victims would often be sedated with alcohol or narcotic substances, thereby explaining the condition in which the author was found.
But even if that were the case, the enigma remains of why there was no reaction to try to find the truth.
The entire funeral lasted a total of about 3 min., while Poe's remains were buried at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore. No official newspaper reported on his death, even though he was one of the most famous people of the 19th century.
160 years later in Baltimore, the community organized a 2nd and much grander funeral for the great author who left the world at the age of 40.
Actors posing as Arthur Conan Doyle and Alfred Hitchcock, who were both inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, were present at it.
