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Ridley Coote

The Masque Of The Red Death [& Other Stories] (2022) By Edgar Allan Poe



"There were much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust."

This clothbound classic edition of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Masque Of The Red Death' also contained six other short stories from the so-called master of the macabre; 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher', 'The Black Cat', 'Ligeia', 'The Cask Of Amontillado', 'The Pit And The Pendulum', and, finally; 'The Tell-tale Heart'. I had read none of these previously, but was very excited to explore the mind of one of literature's most famous and peculiar minds.


"Blood was its Avatar and its seal - the redness and the horror of blood.”

In regards to 'The Masque Of The Red Death', I found it to be a chilling short story, which had some wonderfully tantalising descriptions and diction. Poe's use of words was so imaginative, at times, and his imagery was so eloquent that it was impossible not to conjure full and encompassing images of the scenes he was describing.


"I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher."

'The Fall Of The House Of Usher' was a longer, distinctly more foreboding story, which reminded me greatly of Shirley Jackson's 'The Haunting Of Hill House', in terms of its atmospheric and unsettling countenance. Poe's words flowed smoothly and succinctly, with delicious descriptions, particularly in regards to the house itself. It was a finely poised and malevolent tale.


"The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame."

I found 'The Black Cat' to be a rather peculiar story. It retained Poe's classic themes and style, as one would expect, and took me, the reader, on an intriguing little journey. Poe's fiendish mind meant that there was certainly some malice and sinister happenings to be had, but it felt more like a campfire tale than a short story, in a certain sense.


"In beauty of face no maiden ever equaled her. It was the radiance of an opium-dream - an airy and spirit-lifting vision more wildly divine than the fantasies which hovered about the slumbering souls of the daughters of Delos."

'Ligeia' was rather beautiful, in its descriptions and romance, which surprised me initially. Naturally, considering its author, the story took a more sinister, gothic, turn, but it was fascinating and engaging. It grew on me considerably, and inspired images of dark romance and horror, such as can be felt in other horrors of the period.


"I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation."

It must be said that 'The Cask Of Amontillado' was not entirely scary, certainly not by Poe's standards. However, it was very atmospheric, and not a little intriguing. It was perhaps the weakest of the collection, in that it did not have the typical twist or sense of horror that the others did, but the diction and flow of the story cannot be faulted.


"...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair."

I found the 'The Pit And The Pendulum' rather peculiar in nature. The concept was interesting, but perhaps a little too convoluted. The horrors produced by Poe are effective in their creation of suspense, but their literal designs are slightly awkward and beyond the scope of believability. That said, I found that this story had a satisfying flow to it, that allowed me to surge through it at a faster pace than that of his others.


"I knew that sound well too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage."

The final story in this collection was 'The Tell-tale Heart'. It was a fast-paced story, one in which Poe portrayed the mind of his protagonist expertly - his spiral into derangement was very effectively shown, and with such conciseness. The descriptions of the antagonist of the piece, keenly the referring to the 'pale blue eye', are among the best in this collection - they are so vivid and striking.


"His eye was like the eye of a vulture, the eye of one of those terrible birds that watch and wait while an animal dies, and then fall upon the dead body and pull it to pieces to eat it."

Overall, I found myself enjoying these short stories quite a lot. Poe's literary style is one of intriguing vernacular and structure, with often fast pacing and sinister developments. My favourites from the collection were comfortably 'The Masque Of The Red Death', 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher', and 'Ligeia'. They marked the best of Poe's dark descriptions and spooky storytelling. It is very evident as to why Poe has been such a renowned, remembered, and influential, writer of horror.


"Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made."



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