The mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe |
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
Topic: The mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe Posted: October 07 2014 at 13:12 |
It was on this very date in the year 1849 that Edgar Allan Poe died under extremely mysterious circumstances, following a temporary disapperance during an aborted journey to a literary collaborator. Exactly what happened in the days prececing Poe's death, or who the mysterious "Reynolds" he kept going on about was. In any case, the conspiracy theories keep coming in. The most famous one revolves around him being manipulated in an elaborate scheme of voter fraud in his hometown, but others are yet more outlandish including murder by in-laws.
Wasn't there also a film made a couple years ago about a third Poe conspiracy theory, with none other than John Cosack in the role? |
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Kirillov
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 03 2011 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 700 |
Posted: October 07 2014 at 15:24 |
The voter fraud theory is the one I have read about, apparently it was a common scam at the time. A tragic end for a literary genius
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dr wu23
Forum Senior Member Joined: August 22 2010 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 20468 |
Posted: October 07 2014 at 22:54 |
from wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe
On October 3, 1849, Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance", according to the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker.[69] He was taken to the Washington Medical College, where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning.[70] Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, was wearing clothes that were not his own. Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the name "Reynolds" on the night before his death, though it is unclear to whom he was referring. Some sources say Poe's final words were "Lord help my poor soul."[70] All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost.[71] Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation", common euphemisms for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism.[72] The actual cause of death remains a mystery.[73] Speculation has included delirium tremens, heart disease, epilepsy, syphilis, meningeal inflammation,[3] cholera[74] and rabies.[75] One theory, dating from 1872, indicates that cooping – in which unwilling citizens who were forced to vote for a particular candidate were occasionally killed – was the cause of Poe's death.[76] Edited by dr wu23 - October 07 2014 at 23:01 |
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One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin |
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
Posted: October 09 2014 at 12:21 |
The voter fraud conspiracy theory about Poe's death is also the first one I read about. Now I'm taking it with a grain of salt, though, since it looks like much "common knowledge" about the man's life is based on either unsubstantiated rumours or deliberate fabrications spread by his rivals in literature and business.
On the other hand, it does not exactly help that the known-for-certain life of Poe was pretty damn weird. |
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Kirillov
Forum Senior Member Joined: September 03 2011 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 700 |
Posted: October 09 2014 at 15:27 |
^ It's mentioned as a possibility in the Introduction to 'The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings' (Penguin Classics).
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
Posted: October 11 2014 at 16:27 |
Another article
is up online about the subject, with a couple YouTube videos of
interviews with people who have their own theories. Apparently rabies is
another common explanation? I'm still wondering who the hell that
"Reynolds" person Poe blabbered on about was...
I'm still waiting for someone to connect Poe's death to Jack the Ripper. The Freemasons would undoubtedly have to be involved in both. |
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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Toaster Mantis
Forum Senior Member Joined: April 12 2008 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 5898 |
Posted: November 24 2014 at 03:35 |
The Fortean webzine Mysterious Universe has now just posed an article on the conspiracy theories surrounding Poe. Also goes in to how real life events would parallel his novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.
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"The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
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zappaholic
Forum Senior Member Joined: March 24 2006 Location: flyover country Status: Offline Points: 2822 |
Posted: November 24 2014 at 06:19 |
It's the only plausible explanation. |
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"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." -- H.L. Mencken
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