A short while ago, I read the short story “The Masque of the Red Death”, by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s an allegory about death, but the story itself also has a wonderful plot, though it is horrifying, as is customary with Poe’s stories. In the story, Prince Prospero tried to escape from the “Red Death”, a plague that caused an extreme pain and then killed the victim in half an hour, by gathering a thousand of his friends and then secluding them in an abbey of his, providing provisions and all kinds of pleasures, from ballerinas and musicians to buffoons and wine. He parties and ignores the problem of the “Red Death”. However, during one of his parties, the party-goers realize that someone dressed like the “Red Death” is with them, and though his clothing is distinctive, he is not noticed until after midnight, hours after the party starts, in the blue, easternmost room. A commotion is created, all of the revelers trying their best to escape the person, and though the prince commands his courtiers to seize him, they are frightened of him, and do not, so that the prince himself chases the person through the seven chambers of the party. The person then turns to confront and kill the prince, but when the party-goers attempt to unmask him, it turns out that he is a shapeless form, and is in fact the “Red Death”. The “Red Death” is the personification of death, and the story shows that it is impossible to run from death forever. Though horrifying, the story was very interesting, and I enjoyed reading it. I would rate this story 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone who likes Poe, horror stories, allegorical stories or is simply looking for an interesting short story.
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