"The Masque of Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe

In this haunting story, a prince and his elite guests attempt to escape a deadly plague by hiding in a luxurious, secluded tower. But as they indulge in opulence and revelry, an uninvited guest appears, bringing with it a grim reminder of the dangers lurking outside. Join us as we bask in the gothic atmosphere and timeless horror of Edgar Allan Poe's masterpiece, based on his tale The Masque of Red Death. Perfect for late-night chills or a dark, stormy evening!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The red death had long devastated the country. No sickness
had ever been so fatal or so hideous. Blood was
its manifestation and its avatar, the redness and the horror
of blood. There were sharp pains and a sudden dizziness,

(00:26):
and then profuse bleeding from the pores. The scarlet stains
upon the body and especially the face of the victim
would shut him out from the aid and sympathy from
his fellow men. And worst of all, the whole seizure, progression,
and termination of the disease happened within just half an hour.

(00:51):
But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and clever.
When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned a thousand
friends and with them retired to the deep seclusion of
one of his towers, girdled in by a strong and
lofty wall and gates of iron. The external world could

(01:15):
take care of itself in the meantime, the Prince provided
all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons and actors,
ballet dancers and musicians. They played cards and drank wine,
and there were beautiful women. Inside there was safety and comfort. Outside,

(01:42):
lurked the Red Death. It was towards the sixth month
of seclusion, and while the virus raged furiously abroad, the
Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a massed ball
of the most unusualsual magnificence. There are some who would

(02:04):
have thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not.
It was necessary to hear and see and touch him
to be sure that he was not. He had directed
the embellishments of the seven chambers of the tower, and
there were much glare and glitter. The rooms held much

(02:26):
beauty and extravagance, much oddness and terror, and even things
that could make one feel disgusted. These apartments were so
irregularly disposed, as might have been expected from the Duke's
love of the bazaar, that there was a sharp turn
every twenty or thirty yards to the right and left.

(02:48):
In the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow
Gothic window looked out upon a private corridor which rounded
the suite. These windows were of colorful stained glass, and
the chambers changed to match their hues. The eastern extremity
was vividly blue. The second chamber was purple in panes

(03:11):
along with its ornaments and tapestries. The third was green throughout,
and the fourth was orange, the fifth white, the sixth violet.
The seventh apartment was shrouded in black velvet that hung
all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling upon

(03:32):
a carpet of the same material and hue. But in
this chamber only the color of the windows failed to
correspond with the decor. The panes here were scarlet, a
deep blood color. There were no lamps or candles within
any of the seven apartments, but in the corridors opposite

(03:57):
to each window there was a heavy torch that glaringly
illuminated the room. In the black chamber, the light that
streamed upon the blood tinted panes was ghastly in the extreme,
and produced so wild a look upon those who entered,
that there were few bold enough to set foot within

(04:17):
it at all. It was in this apartment, also that
there stood a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung
to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang, And
when its minute hand made the circuit of face and
the hour was to be stricken, there came forth from

(04:41):
the lungs of the clock a sound so clear and
loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar
a note that at each hour the musicians in the
orchestra would pause in their performance to hearken to the sound.

(05:02):
And thus the dancers seized their revolutions, and there was
a brief disconcert of the whole company, And while the
chimes of the clock yet rang, the giddiest grew pale.
But when the echoes had ceased, laughter at once pervaded
the assembly. The musicians looked at each other and smiled,

(05:26):
and then after a lapse of sixty minutes, there came
another chiming of the clock, and then were the same
as before. Throughout the seven chambers. The partygoers moved, shifting
and contorting, taking on the colors of the rooms. Then

(05:46):
strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of velvet,
and momentarily all is still, until the echoes die away,
and again the music swells, but none of the maskers
would venture through the room. With blood colored panes and
black drapery. The other apartments were densely crowded, and the

(06:11):
revel went whirlingly on until at length the clock sounded
and the music ceased, and the Waltzers seized their revolutions.
Now there were twelve strokes to be sounded, and before
the last echoes of the last chime had sunk into silence,

(06:32):
there were many individuals in the crowd who had become
aware of the presence of a masked figure not previously seen,
And the whispers of this new presence arose at length
from the whole company, a murmur, first of surprise, then
finally of terror, of horror and disgust. The figure was

(06:58):
tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot. The
mask most perfectly resembled the face of a stiffened corpse.
His clothes were dabbled in blood, and his broad mask
was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. When the eyes of
Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image that stalked among

(07:21):
the Waltzers, he was seen to shudder either of terror
or distaste, before his brow reddened with rage, and the
music became hushed at the waving of his hand. Who dares,
he demanded hoarsely of the group around him in the
blue chamber, Who dares thus to make mockery of our woes?

(07:45):
Unmask the scoundrel, so that we may know who it
is that will hang at sunrise from the battlements, Stop
him and strip him of those stained robes of sacrilege.
Will no one obey my command? These words rang throughout
the seven rooms, loudly and clearly. At first, as he

(08:07):
spoke there was some movement in the direction of the intruder,
who now made closer approach to the Prince, but none
put forth a hand to seize him, so that he
passed within a yard of the Prince, and made his
way uninterruptedly through the Blue chamber to the Purple, through

(08:28):
the Purple to the Green, through the Green to the Orange,
along to the White, and even thence to the Violet.
It was then that the Prince Prospero rushed hurriedly through
the six chambers with a drawn dagger, And when the
intruder left the velvet apartment, there was a sharp cry,

(08:52):
and the dagger dropped, gleaming on the carpet, upon which
fell instantly in death. The Gospero, then, summoning their wild
courage of despair, a crowd of revelers seized the tall figure,
who stood erect and motionless in the shadow of the

(09:13):
Ebony Clock and cried in unutterable horror at finding the
corpse like mask did not cover any tangible form. The
Red Death had come in like a thief in the night,
and one by one dropped the revelers in the blood
sprinkled halls and died, and the Ebony Clock went out

(09:38):
with the last of them, and the flames of the
torches expired, and darkness and decay, and the Red Death
held dominion over all.