Guest Post on Poe's Masque of the Red Death

First let me say that Valia volunteered right away for this thankless job of writing about Poe, and she also helped me with my Masque Pinterest board http://pinterest.com/bethanygriffin1/masque-of-the-red-death/ by sending me some awesome pictures. She's written specifically about Poe's Masque of the Red Death, which is perfect, the day before my re-imagining is released. Thanks Valia! 

Bio:

Author. Photographer. Artist. Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia Valia always had a love for the written word. She wrote her first full book on the bathroom floor of her dormitory, while procrastinating to study for her college classes. Upon graduation, she has moved her writing to more respectable places, and have found her voice in YA fiction. Her first adult book Simplicity is being republished, while her YA science fiction is on submission to find a home. 

Find her at http://wordsareinnermusic.blogspot.com and @ValiaLind. 

Edgar Allan Poe

Masque of the Red Death has always been one of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe stories. The man had so much talent, often it can be seen bursting from the pages. Just like any Poe story, Masque leaves a heavy impression on the reader. So many aspects of who he was is seen in his words and in the end isn’t that what good writing is all about?  To tell a story in such a way, to a paint a picture with words, in order for others to see and feel the emotions that are coursing through the body, that is the way of a true master.

Description:

“Blood was its Avatar and its seal -- the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, the sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution.”

Foreshadowing:

“Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang;”

Relativity:

“There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion.”

Impact ending:

“And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall.” 

I remember when I was a little girl and reading this story made me hyperaware of everyone around me. Every noise in the apartment was the masked man trying to come for me. As a writer, I now take these aspects of the story and grow from them. Poe taught me so much about good story telling.

Masque is such a short story, but so much to learn. If one has not read Edgar Allan Poe before, one needs to. A reader and writer alike are never the same after being introduced to Poe’s writing.