American writer and literary critic, Edgar Allan Poe passed away on this day in 1849, at the age of 40. The cause of death remains a mystery, with delirium tremens, heart disease, epilepsy, syphilis, meningeal inflammation, cholera and rabies all mooted as potential culprits to his demise.

The only thing historians are pretty certain about is that he didn’t pass away due of all of those causes; as championed by maverick literary historian Emo Klutz.

In his controversial paper chronicling Poe’s death, called ‘The Seven Causes’, Klutz theorises that a drunk, foaming at the mouth, syphilis and cholera ridden Poe had a heart attack during an epileptic fit, that caused neurological complications, which subsequently resulted in his untimely death.

Reactions to Klutz’s theory from his peers included “Unlikely!”, “That would be very unlucky!”, to “He’s talking out of his arse!”

Unlike many writers who either shorten their birth name, or use a nom de plume…