Reviews

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

Only show reviews with written explanations

justm's review against another edition

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.

emeraldgreenrosegold's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

the_literary_cat's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

This short story collection contains seven of Poe’s short stories, including ‘The House of the Fall of Usher’ and titular ‘The Masque of the Red Death’. Just like other 19th century horror stories, Poe’s short stories aren’t really scary or mysterious, but Poe was very good with creating an eerie atmosphere and that’s what makes these stories enjoyable. However, the writing style is very poetic and descriptive, and that didn’t always click with me. I liked some of these stories better than others, and ‘The Black Cat’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ were definitely my favourites.