Reviews

The Masque of Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

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chescaguerrero's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

jeeeeenniferh's review against another edition

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1.0

0.25 stars

charliereadsalot's review against another edition

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4.0

4 STARS

CW: death, plague

With every new Poe story I read, I just become more and more sure that I love his writing and should read more. This story kind of evoked the vibe of rich people's Corona parties during lockdowns.

Poe heavily utilizes symbolisms in his stories usually and I'll have to go back to reread this again in the next few days to think more about the symbolism of the different rooms, the brazier and the windows. I still have many open questions that I'll have to think about some more. (Why do the party goers stop when the clock strikes a full hour? How are the different rooms significant? Can people leave the palace or are they stuck there, partying on and on? And many more...)

I was also VERY intrigued by the question of who the narrator of this story is. They reveal themself a couple of times but never clearly identify themself. They recount the events as if they were a part of the revelry but how can they let us know when

everyone died in the end.

Maybe the narrator was the Red Death but, again, I'll have to go back through the story and contemplate.

Additionally, while I read my first Poe story last year (it was Ligeia) and struggled a little with the writing style, I seem to have gotten used to it by now and thoroughly enjoyed it.