On October 3rd, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, delirious, disheveled, and dressed in someone else’s clothes. He was taken to a hospital, barely coherent, slipping in and out of consciousness. For the next four days, he was gripped by hallucinations, unable to explain what had happened or how he got there. He repeatedly called out the name “Reynolds,” a man no one could identify, before dying under murky circumstances. To this day, no one knows exactly how or why Poe died—and no autopsy was ever performed.
In this episode, the boys dive into one of the most puzzling deaths in American literary history. Was Poe a victim of “cooping,” a form of election-day voter fraud where victims were drugged, disguised, and forced to vote multiple times? Or was his death the result of alcohol withdrawal, rabies, syphilis, or even a planned murder? Some believe he may have had a secret medical condition, while others suspect foul play tied to a romantic rivalry.
Theories are as numerous as they are bizarre, and the lack of medical records or police reports only deepens the mystery. Even Poe’s burial was hasty and unceremonious—his grave went unmarked for years.
From his eerie final days to the symbolic poetry of his death, this episode unravels the strange case of a man whose life was steeped in darkness—and whose death may be his greatest unsolved mystery.
Originally recorded as Mini Ep 2 for Patreons Only.
