Masque of Red Death - Writers Forum

Adrea · 11-17-2005, 09:50 AM

This is an Edgar Allen Poe work, pretty short. It talks about people who wall themselves in to avoid the plauge, only to find that it comes as an uninvited guest during a masquerade. Does that sound familiar to any one?

WordBeast · 11-17-2005, 01:52 PM

Yes, Masque of the Red Death is one of my fav. Poe stories. A truly scary tale and metaphor for 'the enemy within'.

sharpieheart · 11-17-2005, 02:23 PM

I had to read that in school recently. But "Never more" is really my favorite Edgar Allen Poe piece... it's practically perfect as for rhythm and timing and all that technical stuff, and it's fun to read.

_Broken_ · 11-20-2005, 06:53 PM

The Raven is really good also. My favorite is between the Mask Of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart. I love his poems also, like Anabel Lee and A Dream within a dream.

krazyklassykat · 12-02-2005, 07:20 PM

Yeah I really like that story. The Tell-Tale heart is the scariest though, I think.

Ralizah · 12-02-2005, 07:33 PM

I've read it. It's an OK story.
Poe's stuff has never creeped me out. Books can't creep me out. But I do love his lyricism.

Indigo · 12-06-2005, 05:22 AM

I was in a play based aroung this story. It was very cool. It's called The Cabinet of Terrible Terrors, too Terrible to Mention As you can probably tell it was a sort of black comedy with most of his other stories woven into it. I love Poe.

Narcissist. · 01-10-2006, 10:54 AM

My class had to read Masque of the Red Death in school, in play form. I thought it was interesting, to say the least - because Poe is one of my favorite writers, personally.

Though, I tend to like other works of his more, such as The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Of course, The Raven is infamous, and I like it, but people seem to like it only because it's famous, or is quoted often, without understanding what the writing is about; which is one of my pet peeves, as is many.

Poe is an amazing writer, and was somewhat 'messed up in the head' so to speak. His writing was somewhat of celtic gothic writing, and written very well. Despite the fact that he was an alcoholic and married his 13-year-old cousin..

Ha ha, I'm obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe, he's quite possibly my favorite writers of all time.

discipleofWORD · 01-18-2006, 12:27 AM

The Black Cat... man that's a freaky story. So sad that he died in obvilion back then. I feel pity for him since basically a lot of people he knew and loved died from turbulosis.

Saraneth · 02-18-2006, 10:14 PM

"The Masque of Red Death" is my absolute favorite Poe short story. I'm a huge fan of allegory, and Poe truly knows how to paint vivid pictures with his words.

"The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" are of course, much creepier than "Red Death."

And the whole marrying his cousin this was rather... ick. But I don't measure authors by their personal lives - it's their work that truly counts.

Kira the wanderer · 03-01-2006, 06:24 PM

To tell you the truth it sounds EXACTLY like a scene in Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera when Erik, the phantom, appeared at the masquerade in his costume, called Red Death, obviously not invited. When was this poem written?

kad barma · 06-22-2006, 06:13 PM

"The Masque of the Red Death", not "Masque of Red Death"
"The Raven" not "Never More", (let alone the fact that the word in the poem is "nevermore"),
"The Cask of Amontillado", not "The Mask of Amontillado"

does anyone READ anymore???

poe has no equal in my appreciation of literature, so please forgive my hypersensitivity. to me, his stories are mind-bending symphonies, not just of suspense or horror or passion, but of language and of our secret, inner selves, complete with demons and all. my odd and personal favorite is one of his shortest, "The Duc de l'Omlette", with it's closing line:

"Had Alexander not been Alexander, he would have been Diogenes; and the Duc assured his antagonist in taking leave, "que s'il n'eut ete De L'Omelette il n'aurait point d'objection d'etre le Diable."

anyway...

regarding who borrowed from whom, red death was penned in 1842, and gaston leroux wasn't born until 1868, so you do the math.

one of the funnier parts to the circumstances of "my name is earl" (if you aren't watching this show, you're missing a great one) is that he's discovered karma from carson daly talking about it on tv. it never occurs to earl the etymology of the subject, much the same way that show fans mistake an homage with its cultural source.

it's not just "red death". poe literally invented the detective mystery (conan doyle stole unapologetically) but "the gold bug" is all but forgotten. as noted above, everybody loves the poetry and rhthym of the word "nevermore", but nobody remembers a damn thing about the incredible poem from which it rises. there's a lot more that edgar allen contributed to this world, but i fear that the un-read masses may never realize.

eap, rip. i think i'm gonna head out the the old worthen tonight for a silent beer in honor of the great man and his tortured pen.

*sigh*

Arin · 07-04-2006, 11:16 PM

I loved "The Masque of the Red Death." In English class, we listened to a recording of some creepy-sounding British guy reading it while reading along. It was quite chilling, to say the least. But I think it's a beautifully constructed story, with the tension and horror swiftly escalating at a perfect pace. And yes, the "evil within" theme is rather good.