Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness

by Edgar Allan Poe

Book Overview

A sweet little cat drives a man to insanity and murder....
The grim death known as the plague roams a masquerade ball dressed in red....
A dwarf seeks his final revenge on his captors....
A sister calls to her beloved twin from beyond the grave....
Prepare yourself. You are about to enter a world where you will be shocked, terrified, and, though you'll be too scared to admit it at first, secretly thrilled. Here are four tales --...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689848374
• ISBN13: 9780689848377
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.4" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 11 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 9

Customer Reviews

Stunning and Terrifying

This book made me a die-hard Gris Grimly fan! The original Poe stories are only very gently edited (for length, not for content) and the illustrations add a wonderfully frightening edge. This book is shelved in our Teen section for good reason (the final illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death" might be the bloodiest illustration I've ever seen), but I heartily recommend this book for high schoolers, reluctant readers, adults, students who are having a hard time getting into the classics, or anybody else with a love of all things dark and spooky :) For the young ones, check out another Gris Grimly book called "Boris And Bella".. all of the fun, none of the gore (well almost..)

the tales of mystery and madness

this book is called the tales of mystery and madness.This book is like a comic.But the story that i read is about a man who lived a normal life with a wife and a cat.The cat followed him every were he went,until one night he came home drunk and tried tograb the cat but the cat bit him so he got angry and poked the cat eye out.Then the cat never followed him again so he got angry and hung the cat.After that he went to the bar to get a drink and then he saw a cat who looked like the old cat that he hung.So his wife came to the bar and had bought the cat,so then the cat started to follow him every where he went just like the last cat did.Then he got so angry causethe cat would not leave him alone.So he took the cat to the basement and tried to kill it but his wife stoped him from killing the cat.So instead of killing the cat he killed his wife and buried her in the walls with the cat.Couple weeks later the police came knocking on his door,he had open the door and fast as they could the police rushed in and started to search his house but they found nothing until the police had found the basement and started to search but yet they found nothing.But all of a sudden a noise came threw the walls,he tried to cover the wall that he buried her but it was no good the police pushed him out the way and started tobang rhe walls.Wall colapsed and there stood the corpse bride with the cat on her head.

Horror Review

I read Edgar A. Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness. This book has 4 stories; Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death, Hop Frog, and The Fall of the House of Usher. I won't go into detail about all the stories but my favorite story was The Masque of the Red Death. The story starts with people who were having a masquerade at Prince Prospero's house. Each hour the clock chimed. At the 12th chime a person in a red cape came out of the clock and frightened everyone at the masquerade. Prince Prospero tried to kill him but the Prince died when he saw his face. Then, anyone who saw his face or dared to enter the red blood shot room died by bleeding to death. Will anyone survive? You will have to read it yourself to find out. I though all of the stories in the book were scary and cool. I also thought the illustrations by Chris Grimley were very creative. I would recommend for anyone who likes horror to read this book. David - age 9

Stunning artwork

This is a great collection for Edgar Allen Poe fans and children's book collectors alike. Grimly's art has the wildness of Ralph Steadman and the darkness of Edward Gorey. It is worth noting that although it is a picture book, some of the imagery and definitely the Poe stories themselves are graphic, so maybe don't cuddle up with your five year old with this one.... Older kids, especially these days, should have no problem.

Buy it for the Art...

There are a multitude of Poe's out there to choose from, but the real draw here is the art of Gris Grimly. The book features slightly abridged texts for young readers of "The Black Cat," "The Masque of the Red Death," "Hop Frog," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." What makes this volume special is the way that text is embraced by and woven through Grimly's gloriously whimsical and twisted full color art that captures perfectly the macabre and maniacle tone of Poe. The volume is richly illustrated with art on every page. All in all a beautiful book and a great introduction to Poe for young readers of twisted tastes.