diff --git a/actor/deadletter.go b/actor/deadletter.go
index 068430c..b54d3dd 100644
--- a/actor/deadletter.go
+++ b/actor/deadletter.go
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ func newDeadLetter() Receiver {
 	}
 }
 
+// Receive implements the Receiver interface, handling the deadletter messages.
+// Todo: this will grow and grow. Maybe we want a limit on this?
 func (d *deadLetter) Receive(ctx *Context) {
 	switch msg := ctx.Message().(type) {
 	case Started:
@@ -40,13 +42,10 @@ func (d *deadLetter) Receive(ctx *Context) {
 		if msg.Flush {
 			d.msgs = d.msgs[:0]
 		}
-	default:
+	case *DeadLetterEvent:
 		d.logger.Warnw("deadletter arrived", "msg", msg, "sender", ctx.Sender())
-		dl := DeadLetterEvent{
-			Target:  nil, // todo: how to get the target?
-			Message: msg,
-			Sender:  ctx.Sender(),
-		}
-		d.msgs = append(d.msgs, &dl)
+		d.msgs = append(d.msgs, msg)
+	default:
+		d.logger.Errorw("unknown message arrived", "msg", msg)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/actor/deadletter_test.go b/actor/deadletter_test.go
index 9cd20bf..b1d843a 100644
--- a/actor/deadletter_test.go
+++ b/actor/deadletter_test.go
@@ -10,22 +10,41 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-type testActor struct {
-}
-type testMessage struct {
-	data string
-}
+// TestDeadLetterDefault tests the default deadletter handling.
+// It will spawn a new actor, kill it, send a message to it and then check if the deadletter
+// received the message.
+func TestDeadLetterDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	lh := log.NewHandler(os.Stdout, log.TextFormat, slog.LevelDebug)
+	e := NewEngine(EngineOptLogger(log.NewLogger("[engine]", lh)))
+	a1 := e.Spawn(newTestActor, "a1")
+	assert.NotNil(t, a1)
+	dl := e.Registry.getByID("deadletter")
+	assert.NotNil(t, dl)           // should be registered by default
+	e.Poison(a1).Wait()            // poison the a1 actor
+	e.Send(a1, testMessage{"bar"}) // should end up the deadletter queue
+	time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)   // a flush would be nice here
+	// flushes the deadletter queue, and returns the messages:
+	resp, err := e.Request(dl.PID(), &DeadLetterFetch{Flush: true}, time.Millisecond*10).Result()
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.NotNil(t, resp)
+	respDeadLetters, ok := resp.([]*DeadLetterEvent)
+	assert.True(t, ok)                       // should be a slice of deadletter events
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(respDeadLetters)) // should be one deadletter event
+	ev, ok := respDeadLetters[0].Message.(testMessage)
+	assert.True(t, ok) // should be a test message
+	assert.Equal(t, "bar", ev.data)
 
-func newTestActor() Receiver {
-	return testActor{}
-}
-func (t testActor) Receive(ctx *Context) {
-	// do nothing
 }
 
-func TestDeadLetterDefault(t *testing.T) {
+// TestDeadLetterCustom tests the custom deadletter handling.
+// It will spawn a new actor, kill it, send a message to it and then check if the deadletter
+// received the message.
+// It is using the custom deadletter receiver below.
+func TestDeadLetterCustom(t *testing.T) {
 	lh := log.NewHandler(os.Stdout, log.TextFormat, slog.LevelDebug)
-	e := NewEngine(EngineOptLogger(log.NewLogger("[engine]", lh)))
+	e := NewEngine(
+		EngineOptLogger(log.NewLogger("[engine]", lh)),
+		EngineOptDeadletter(newCustomDeadLetter))
 	a1 := e.Spawn(newTestActor, "a1")
 	assert.NotNil(t, a1)
 	dl := e.Registry.getByID("deadletter")
@@ -35,12 +54,56 @@ func TestDeadLetterDefault(t *testing.T) {
 	// should be in deadletter
 	fmt.Println("==== sending message via a1 to deadletter ====")
 	e.Send(a1, testMessage{"bar"})
-	time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 50)
-	resp, err := e.Request(dl.PID(), &DeadLetterFetch{Flush: true}, time.Millisecond*1000).Result()
-	assert.Nil(t, err)
-	assert.NotNil(t, resp)
-	resp2, ok := resp.([]*DeadLetterEvent)
-	assert.True(t, ok)
-	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(resp2))
+	time.Sleep(time.Millisecond) // a flush would be nice here :-)
+	resp, err := e.Request(dl.PID(), &DeadLetterFetch{Flush: true}, time.Millisecond*10).Result()
+	assert.Nil(t, err)     // no error from the request
+	assert.NotNil(t, resp) // we should get a response to our request
+	respDeadLetters, ok := resp.([]*DeadLetterEvent)
+	assert.True(t, ok)                       // got a slice of deadletter events
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(respDeadLetters)) // one deadletter event
+	ev, ok := respDeadLetters[0].Message.(testMessage)
+	assert.True(t, ok) // should be our test message
+	assert.Equal(t, "bar", ev.data)
+}
+
+type testActor struct{}
+type testMessage struct {
+	data string
+}
+
+func newTestActor() Receiver {
+	return testActor{}
+}
+func (t testActor) Receive(ctx *Context) {
+	// do nothing
+}
+
+// customDeadLetter is a custom deadletter actor / receiver
+type customDeadLetter struct {
+	deadLetters []*DeadLetterEvent
+}
+
+func newCustomDeadLetter() Receiver {
+	return &customDeadLetter{
+		deadLetters: make([]*DeadLetterEvent, 0),
+	}
+}
 
+// Receive implements the Receiver interface. This is a OK example of an actor that
+// that deals with deadletters. It will store the deadletters in a slice.
+func (c *customDeadLetter) Receive(ctx *Context) {
+	switch ctx.Message().(type) {
+	case *DeadLetterFlush:
+		c.deadLetters = c.deadLetters[:0]
+	case *DeadLetterFetch:
+		ctx.Respond(c.deadLetters)
+	case *DeadLetterEvent:
+		slog.Warn("received deadletter event")
+		msg, ok := ctx.Message().(*DeadLetterEvent)
+		if !ok {
+			slog.Error("failed to cast deadletter event")
+			return
+		}
+		c.deadLetters = append(c.deadLetters, msg)
+	}
 }
diff --git a/actor/engine.go b/actor/engine.go
index bb3481f..d5a124c 100644
--- a/actor/engine.go
+++ b/actor/engine.go
@@ -36,12 +36,13 @@ type Engine struct {
 // You can pass an optional logger through
 func NewEngine(opts ...func(*Engine)) *Engine {
 	e := &Engine{}
+	e.address = LocalLookupAddr
+	e.Registry = newRegistry(e)      // need to init the registry in case we want a custom deadletter
+	e.EventStream = NewEventStream() //
 	for _, o := range opts {
 		o(e)
 	}
-	e.EventStream = NewEventStream(e.logger)
-	e.address = LocalLookupAddr
-	e.Registry = newRegistry(e)
+
 	// if no deadletter is registered, we will register the default deadletter from deadletter.go
 	if e.deadLetter == nil {
 		e.logger.Debugw("no deadletter receiver set, registering default")
@@ -53,6 +54,9 @@ func NewEngine(opts ...func(*Engine)) *Engine {
 func EngineOptLogger(logger log.Logger) func(*Engine) {
 	return func(e *Engine) {
 		e.logger = logger
+		// This is a bit hacky, but we need to set the logger for the eventstream
+		// which cannot be set in the constructor since the logger is not set yet.
+		e.EventStream.logger = logger.SubLogger("[eventStream]")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -63,9 +67,9 @@ func EngineOptPidSeparator(sep string) func(*Engine) {
 	}
 }
 
-func EngineOptDeadletter(deadletter *PID) func(*Engine) {
+func EngineOptDeadletter(d Producer) func(*Engine) {
 	return func(e *Engine) {
-		e.deadLetter = deadletter
+		e.deadLetter = e.Spawn(d, "deadletter")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -203,9 +207,16 @@ func (e *Engine) Poison(pid *PID, wg ...*sync.WaitGroup) *sync.WaitGroup {
 	}
 	_wg.Add(1)
 	proc := e.Registry.get(pid)
-	if proc != nil {
-		e.SendLocal(pid, poisonPill{_wg}, nil)
+	if proc == nil {
+		// send a deadletter message
+		e.Send(e.deadLetter, &DeadLetterEvent{
+			Target:  pid,
+			Message: poisonPill{_wg},
+			Sender:  nil,
+		})
+		return _wg
 	}
+	e.SendLocal(pid, poisonPill{_wg}, nil)
 	return _wg
 }
 
@@ -214,11 +225,16 @@ func (e *Engine) Poison(pid *PID, wg ...*sync.WaitGroup) *sync.WaitGroup {
 // process registered, the function will panic.
 func (e *Engine) SendLocal(pid *PID, msg any, sender *PID) {
 	proc := e.Registry.get(pid)
-	if proc != nil {
-		proc.Send(pid, msg, sender)
+	if proc == nil {
+		// send a deadletter message
+		e.Send(e.deadLetter, &DeadLetterEvent{
+			Target:  pid,
+			Message: msg,
+			Sender:  sender,
+		})
 		return
 	}
-	panic("no way to handle message (didn't find deadletter)")
+	proc.Send(pid, msg, sender)
 }
 
 func (e *Engine) isLocalMessage(pid *PID) bool {
diff --git a/actor/event_stream.go b/actor/event_stream.go
index 9b16898..7d0b8b4 100644
--- a/actor/event_stream.go
+++ b/actor/event_stream.go
@@ -20,10 +20,9 @@ type EventStream struct {
 	logger log.Logger
 }
 
-func NewEventStream(l log.Logger) *EventStream {
+func NewEventStream() *EventStream {
 	return &EventStream{
-		subs:   make(map[*EventSub]EventStreamFunc),
-		logger: l.SubLogger("[eventStream]"),
+		subs: make(map[*EventSub]EventStreamFunc),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/actor/registry.go b/actor/registry.go
index 56a1c4a..4fc9388 100644
--- a/actor/registry.go
+++ b/actor/registry.go
@@ -35,10 +35,13 @@ func (r *Registry) get(pid *PID) Processer {
 	if proc, ok := r.lookup[pid.ID]; ok {
 		return proc
 	}
-	if proc, ok := r.lookup["deadletter"]; ok {
-		return proc
-	}
-	panic("no deadletter registered")
+	/*
+		if proc, ok := r.lookup["deadletter"]; ok {
+			return proc
+		}
+
+	*/
+	return nil // didn't find the processer
 }
 
 func (r *Registry) getByID(id string) Processer {