October 3: The mysterious death of writer Edgar Allan Poe

Master of mystery and macabre, writer Edgar Allan Poe's death was equally shrouded in mystery.

It was raining cats and dogs on October 3, 1849 in Baltimore, USA and Poe was found in a delirious state, with shabby clothes on, near a gutter. Helped by passerbys, he was taken to a nearby hospital and he passed away on October 7. From what, nobody knows.

Whether it's the raven from his poem The Raven who keeps saying, “Nevermore” or A Dream Within a Dream, where the writer cannot help but wonder if, 'Is all that we see or seem/But a dream within a dream?', Poe's gothic writing has influenced writer and readers alike, worldwide. The creator of popular detective series Arthur Conan Doyle remarked this about the writer, "Each (of Poe's detective stories) is a root from which a whole literature has developed.... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?". Now, what more does one need to add to that statement?

Here are some quotes from the great writer himself:
- I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity
- We loved with a love that was more than love
- Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see
- Sleep, those little slices of death — how I loathe them