Short Story Spotlight: "Ligeia" by Edgar Allan Poe

I was very intrigued by the short story "Ligeia," which I had never heard of before, when I read Nevermore by Kelly Creagh last October. The premise is this: the narrator falls in love with a woman named Ligeia and marries her, although he knows very little about her. She is beautiful and entrances him, but at times there is something odd about her, particularly about her eyes. Eventually she dies, and the narrator is tormented. He comes into an estate and decorates it in a very dark, creepy way. He ends up marrying a woman named Rowena, who slowly declines and is overtaken by an illness. After she has allegedly died, he sits with her corpse, only to see it animated multiple times throughout the night. At the last, she rises up again and comes to him, but it is Ligeia possessing Rowena's body.

There were elements of this story that I enjoyed -- the elements that are more or less Poe's trademarks. His writing is very beautiful, even when the subject matter is extremely disturbing, and I can vividly imagine everything he describes. I also enjoy that chilling thrill at the end of a scary story, and it was certainly present in "Ligeia."

However, I felt that it took Poe a long time to get to the point in "Ligeia." While I realize that his extensive descriptions are partially what make everything so vivid, he focused at times on elements of the story that were less interesting to me and skimmed over those that I would have liked to know more about. He spends pages and pages discoursing on Ligeia's appearance and beauty, every detail about her, which became boring to me very quickly. Then he skimmed over his relationship with Rowena, mentioning briefly that he "hated" her, but never giving any inclination of why he then chose to marry her (is it just "a man's needs" or something?). While I enjoyed the "chill" at the end of the story, I felt that it took a long time to get there.

I guess in brief, while "Ligeia" was a creepy and enjoyable story, I wish that the preamble about Ligeia's appearance had been abridged while the actual events of the story had been more fleshed out. Still, it was interesting to finally read the story after seeing it referenced in Nevermore.

Short Story Spotlight: The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

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I knew Edgar Allan Poe was the perfect choice for a little fall creepiness. And when I turned to my Kindle to read from The Poe Nevermore Collection, a small compilation put together by Kelly Creagh of some of the Poe poems and stories highlighted in the novel Nevermore, I was excited to see that "The Masque of the Red Death" was first. I read a few Poe stories in high school, and this one stands out in my mind more than any other. I was excited to revisit it.

A brief synopsis: The rich and somewhat cavalier Prince Prospero decides to evade the Red Death, a plague that has been, well, plaguing his country, by hiding in an abbey and inviting several hundred of his best friends to do the same. They keep themselves entertained through their self-imposed quarantine by having parties and revelries. However, one particular night, in which Prospero has arranged seven rooms in different colors for a masquerade (and the last, in disturbing black and blood red, seeming to mimic the red death, along with a clock whose dire tolling interrupts the party every hour), someone arrives dressed as the Red Death. Everyone is appalled at his lack of tact, but when they try to get rid of him, he proves to be insubstantial, and everyone dies.

The two things I really remembered about "The Masque of the Red Death" were that there were multi-colored rooms and that it was freaky (par for the course with Edgar Allan Poe). What stood out to me this time around was the haunting beauty of Poe's writing and his attention to disturbing detail.

In the past, I definitely never associated Poe with beauty. His stories are so twisted and nightmarish, how could anyone? However, there is something spell-like and enchanting about his writing. Haunting seems a cliched word, but it really is the best word. Every image was vivid in my mind as I read, and even the darkest were described in beautiful language, making it more like a dark fairy-tale with an unhappy ending.

I think what makes the beauty of Poe's writing go dark is not just the disturbing outlines of his plotting, which granted are disturbing enough, but the details he adds to further frighten and haunt his reader. For example, the Red Death isn't just a plague -- it kills in about thirty minutes. And the masked stranger wasn't just dressed as the Red Death -- his mask and clothing were literally spattered with blood. Every detail adds to the atmosphere and the chills of the story.

Edgar Allan Poe is a masterful writer, and "The Masque of the Red Death" is a prime example of his skill. I am looking forward to reading more of his short stories and poetry as the fall goes on.