The Masque of the Red Death

Ok, so I lied. No discussion of plot or characterization today.

Second post in and I'm already breaking promises. Great start to a blog, huh?

Anyway, I've got a short story by Edgar Allan Poe for you all. It's great writing, and I really need to get around to reading more of his works. Here is the story in question, "The Masque of the Red Death":

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/POE/masque.html

I'm sure you all must be feeling all warm and fuzzy on the inside after reading that.

What did I think of that? Although I'm a little biased since I'm a huge fan of Poe, I loved it. My favorite part was the clock and the reactions of the revelers to said clock. Although some sections confused me as to what Poe was exactly getting at ("To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these --the dreams --writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps." in particular. It's possible that this is meant to explain the thoughts and emotions of the party-goers and their allegorical equivalents, but really, I have no clue what's going on here. Regardless, it's still downright creepy, and I'm going to chalk it up to me not being able to comprehend it rather than Poe having confusing writing.), the plot as a whole was well developed and original without being too terribly weird. But of course, that's a given, as this guy is one of the most respected authors to have ever existed.  

For those who didn't figure out the allegory, the rooms represent the progression of life to death; blue is birth, black is death. The clock oh-so-subtly represents time and the countdown towards death, and the red masked guy represents death. The prince and his companions represent those who try to outrun death. Fairly straightforward, although I'll admit it took me a while to realize the full significance of the rooms other than the black one.

Assuming I have the time, expect some more of my own writing tomorrow. It's possible it'll be some Descent related stuff, but I'd also love to do a quick short story. It'll probably involve mice. Don't ask why, I just have had the strange urge to write about mice all day. Also, there will be some site updates to make it look a bit more appealing.