In the shadowy twilight of literary history, October 1849 in particular is etched with intrigue and mystery, marking the final days of Edgar Allan Poe, the enigmatic Master of the Macabre™.  Found in a state that could best be described as disheveled desperation, Poe was discovered in October 4 outside Ryan’s Tavern in Baltimore, an unexpected stopover on his journey from Richmond to Philadelphia.  His attire, a jarring mismatch of ill-fitting garments, added to the aura of mystery, as Poe was known for his meticulous sartorial choices.
The circumstances of his discovery quickly spiraled into a whirlpool of speculation.  The propinquity of a tavern led many to wag their fingers at that devil alcohol, a specter that had haunted Poe since he was a student at UV.  Notorious for being heavily affected by even modest amounts of alcohol (a “lightweight” in modern literary parlance), Poe’s battles with the bottle were as tumultuous as the tales he penned.  But, while an easy scapegoat, it didn’t explain the full scope of the mystery.
Enter the sinister theory of “cooping,” a practice as convoluted as any of Poe’s plots.  This political trickery involved abducting unsuspecting souls, drugging them, and coercing them to vote multiple times under different disguises.  Given that Ryan’s Tavern doubled as a polling place, and Poe’s bedraggled appearance was uncharacteristic, this explanation gained traction.
But, skeptics argue that Poe’s fame in Baltimore would render him immune to so much manipulation, as he was too recognizable to slip through unnoticed.
More recent conjectures suggest an unexpected culprit: rabies.   Some doctors have suggested that Poe’s erratic behavior in his final days aligns with the symptoms of the virus: confusion, aggression, and hydrophobia – the latter evidenced by Poe’s refusal of water.  Without the definitive clarity an autopsy could provide, this remains an intriguing hypothesis in the enigma of Poe’s death.

N.P.: “Kushcloud” – Kidneythieves