A cinematic audiobook with a haunting score and enhanced atmosphere
Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Masque of the Red Death” nearly 180 years ago, yet its narrative and characters continue to mystify and captivate. The short story is driven by Prince Prospero’s attempt to evade the “Red Death,” a fatal plague infecting his kingdom, by hiding in his abbey, where he indulges in pleasures and delights with other nobles. He soon finds out that no one can escape their end.
Steven Archer has recast the characters of “The Masque” and illuminated the narrative in a novel and perhaps more visceral light, while remaining true to the raw darkness and decadence of the tale. His modern take on the classic story brings it into our new infected world. Perhaps it was prescience that drove him to create the illustrations in 2018, only to have them see the plague-filled light of day in 2020. Even now in our enlightened and modern world, “Darkness and Decay and the Red Death holds illimitable dominion over all.”
With a foreword by John Langan (The Wide Carnivorous Sky), this is an immersive audio-visual feast that breathes new life into this classic memento mori tale of disease, decadence, and inevitable mortality.
The audiobook features a conversation between Steven Archer and Stefan Rudnicki and includes an accompanying PDF of Steven Archer’s original illustrations.
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“Ravishing illustrations, seductive and scarlet; a hideous bit of morbidity: exactly what I look for every time I look. Archer is on fire here. A classic reborn.”
— Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author
“I can think of no better combination than Poe and Archer. A vibrant, temporal, visceral re-imagining. To die for.”
— Lee Murray, author of Grotesque: Monster StoriesBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1848) transformed the American literary landscape with his innovations in the short story genre and his haunting lyrical poetry, and he is credited with inventing American gothic horror and detective fiction. He was first published in 1827 and then began a career as a magazine writer and editor and a sharp literary critic. In 1845 the publication of his most famous poem, “The Raven,” brought him national fame.
Steven Archer is an artist and musician living in Baltimore, MD. When not recording, DJing, or producing art, he and his wife, author Donna Lynch, tour with their dark electronic rock band Ego Likeness. He has a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC, and has shown his work at galleries and other venues throughout the east coast. His work has also been shown internationally in the form of album art and magazine illustrations. Luna Maris is his first book. He has also collaborated as illustrator on two books of poems by Donna Lynch; Witches and Daughters of Lilith.
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.