Reviews

The Masque of the Red Death: and other Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe

emily_e_h's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

itselvv's review against another edition

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كنت قادرة على فهم كل قطعة وجملة في القصة وكيف عليَّ أن اشعر حيالها، لكنني لم أقدر على الإحساس بأي شيء، لم أتصل بالقصة إن أمكن القول. أرى بوضوح أن "آلان بو" مبدع، لكنني لم أحس هذا بعد.

thebookboy's review against another edition

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4.0

A wonderful selection of Poe's short stories.

I have a bit of an on and off relationship with Poe - I always say that when he's good, he's magnificent, but when he's bad he's some of the most boring writing in the world.

Luckily, this slim volume cherry-picks some of his very best stories, including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death and more.

Out of 7 stories there was only one I found a bit of a chore (Ligeia). All of the others were suitably unpleasant and excellent.

I'd definitely recommend this small selection to those who want to experience Poe at his best without having to wade through a number of his other stories which aren't quite as fantastic.

dianabrito's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

merciful_death_1766's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

a_novel_experiment's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

alexagarcia's review against another edition

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4.0

3.75/4 - so many of these stories were really quite chilling, there’s a reason Poe is the king of the gothic horror genre!! Others were… more of a bore.

mituna's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars

justm's review against another edition

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4.0

favourites: the masque of the red death, the fall if the house of usher, the tell-tale heart
least favourites: ligeia, the cask of armontillado

iamjudgedredd's review against another edition

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5.0

I picked this collection of short stories up for my birthday. It was my first Edgar Allan Poe. This particular collection was curated to coincide with the Netflix series Fall of the House of Usher (which is also included in this collection). Each of the stories contained in here are the inspirations for the characters, episodes and more from the show.

I really enjoyed the book, and in the small format it read very quickly. Sometimes Poe's verbose nature means that you get lost in his paragraph long sentences. Just know that that's a feature, and not a bug. The swirling descents into madness, the vile explorations of baser creatures we find within ourselves make for some great classic horror moments.