The Masque of the Red Death

by Edgar Allan Poe · 1922

In Edgar Allan Poe’s chilling allegory, a deadly plague known as the Red Death sweeps across a nation, leaving fear and death in its wake. Seeking refuge, Prince Prospero retreats to an opulent, secluded abbey, sealing himself and a select group of nobles behind massive walls. Within the fortified sanctuary they host a lavish masquerade, each room bathed in a different hue, culminating in a foreboding black chamber where a spectral figure—cloaked in the very visage of the Red Death—appears. As the night unfolds, the masquerade’s revelry turns to terror, revealing that no wealth or isolation can escape the inevitable march of mortality.