With a history as an artist and a community volunteer, Griffith (Griff) Robert Littlehale lives in Toledo, Ohio. Griffith Littlehale is also a fan of philosophy and literature and ranks Edgar Allen Poe among his favorite authors.

Although firm historical records exist of Poe’s birth and early orphanhood, his death is mired in levels of uncertainty and legend. Being treated at Washington College Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, he spent his final days far from home and without a friend.

Although documents list Poe’s death as congestion of the brain, which is a term associated with overdoses of alcohol and drugs at the time, there are no existing records about his final hospitalization. There is, however, a tremendous amount of mystery surrounding his death.

Within days of Poe’s passing, literary rivals such as Rufus Griswold began to release materials that historians generally regard as slanderous forms of character assassination. Although Griswold’s work painted Poe as an alcoholic and an opium addict, other accounts insist that he was predominantly sober. Alternate theories of Poe’s cause of death range from pneumonia and rabies to heavy metal and carbon monoxide poisoning.