Great Regulars: During his [Edgar Allan Poe's] journey,

he made a stop in Baltimore, where he was found drunk and delirious. Four days later, on October 7, 1849, he died under mysterious circumstances, either in a ditch or in a Baltimore bar. No one is quite sure of the cause of death: reported as "congestion of the brain," historians have speculated that he died of causes related to alcoholism, a brain tumor or rabies. Some suggest that, as was common practice in Baltimore at the time, he was kidnapped by a gang who forced him to vote over and over again for a chosen political candidate, beating him and feeding him liquor until he complied.

from findingDulcinea: Happy Birthday: Edgar Allan Poe, Poet and Master of the Gothic, Mystery and Horror Genres

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