Preview of Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe Summary:

Walsh begins his examination into the death of Poe by writing, It is a century and a half since the death of Edgar Allan Poe and still there exist urgent questions about what happened, both circumstances and cause. In that situation, surely, there resides a macabre rightness. The man who invented the detective story, in his own sudden and bizarre demise, provided American literature with its most enduring real-life mystery.

From the moment Poe's death was announced to the world, until now, the nature of his death has been uncertain. Perhaps he was found lying in a gutter, or found staggering in the street, or found seated in a tavern; perhaps he died of blows to the head, or died of alcohol poisoning, or died of an infection, or died of exposure. The possible explanation for Poe's passing has challenged scholars for decades. Some biographers sidestep the issue...