The Masque of The Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

The Radio Reading Room

The Master of the Macabre Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death starts our series of Halloween Classic Tales. "The Masque of the Red Death" (originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball in seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms.

Read by Myron Hieronymous Thomas.