Rated: 4/5
Death is inescapable and you can’t avoid it forever. Even if you’re rich.
Death never discriminates.
The book is about Prince Prospero who goes into hiding to avoid the “Red Death”. He walls himself along with the nobles, protection and even entertainment. The fact that the people are dying by the hundreds everyday due to the epidemic, and he is still concerned about entertainment is not lost on me. All of them just attend masquerade balls where they are dancing till night.
The story is only a few pages long and still, Poe takes his time in describing the 7 chambers in the abbey where the Prince was hiding. Especially the last chamber which was black and the scariest. None of the nobles wanted to come here even during the masquerade ball. The ending became even more spookier because of this description of the halls.
The primary theme which I noticed and loved in this story was how time always runs out and the inevitability of death. With regards to time, none of them actually cared for it. All they cared about was the dancing and entertainment. They only cared when the clock chimed in a peculiar voice every hour. All of them became nervous whenever they heard that sound but still, when it stopped they carried on as nothing happened for another hour. Secondly, they tried to so hard to hide from the Red Death but all their resistance was futile in the end when a masked, robed man with blood over his cloak mysteriously appears.
And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.
The Beauty and Her Reads 