I love Manga and was excited to see Edgar Allan Poe's work in manga form. The illustrations are beautiful and fit the stories perfectly. This is a great way to get younger readers to read more classics and they might be able to understand his work better as well. I look forward to reading more classics in this format.

Really the only reason this got 4 stars instead of 5 for me is because I haaate the Fall of the House of Usher. I get that it's one of Poe's famous works and I totally understand the decision to include it in this volume but it's just so much longer than the other stories and I feel like there's a ton of unnecessary rambling in it that makes my eyes glaze over. I would have rather seen the Pit and the Pendulum but that's just my personal preference. Other than that I really enjoyed this. The art was great and I love reading graphic novel adaptations of Poe's works. The stories themselves are so descriptive and it's always interesting to see an artist interpret that and bring it to life. Also it's been awhile since I read the originals but it seems like most of the text has been faithfully reproduced so that's always good.

Gothic, eerie, and beautiful. I liked this Manga version of Poe's classics a lot. I haven't read all these stories in their original version but the dark atmosphere from them seems to have been well translated into this format. The art was overall well done and the classic stories dark and eerie depth strengthened it.

My favorite stories were The Cask of Amontillado, The Raven and The Mask of the Red Death.

4.5 stars

Once again, I never read the original book and to be honest I don't really know what to think of it. The manga is divided into 5 short stories. And some of them are really tiny! I have no idea how they are in the original classic but in this one, although some are a bit difficult to understand since there's not much of a context, they are fascinatingly terrifying!

Also, I have to mention that all the short stories are drawn by a different artist, which I thought to be really interesting. Not only because we can see different styles but because it makes it easier to separate the stories...

I will talk about them briefly in separate:

The Tell-Tale Heart - This one was quite short and not the easiest to understand but it was just so dark and fascinating! I'm not sure I understood it at all because in manga format it's really a bit too tiny but it seems to be about guilt? Basically, it's about a guy that is trying to show that he is sane. In his brain, for him to commit such a calculated murder he has to be sane... The victim was an old man with a "vulture-eye" and he explains how everything happened. It's quite macabre.


The Cask of Amontillado - Okay after reading this one, I think this manga is better enjoyed if you've read the original stories or if you at least have heard of them, otherwise it will probably get confusing. This one is basically about revenge. And if you are wondering, Amontillado is the name of a wine, that was used by Montresor to lure Fortunato to his end. It's quite a messed-up story and not the easiest to have the whole idea in manga...


The Raven - I really liked this one, it's the only one I fully knew before reading the manga and I'm impressed. It's amazing how they managed to still maintain the poem aspect! I was literally reading it as a poem. This seems to be about grief. The main character is suffering the loss of his love, Lenore. And the poem shows him falling into madness. I really love this poem and it was quite unique to see it in a manga format, this is for sure a first and I think it was really well done.


The Masque of the Red Death - This one was scary and unsettling... I was holding my breath for the whole story even tho I was expecting the end due to the title... What an intense story! This one is about the plague and our main character is a prince. He is trying to escape the plague by staying in an abbey. He does an incredibly big party but... There are no boundaries for death... This is one of the tense ones in the book, it's incredible and for sure my favorite!


The Fall of the House Usher - This story is the weirdest of them all. Such an unsettling story! In this story, we have a character clearly suffering from some mental disease (make it plural!) not yet discovered at the time. This one has a bit more of a dark setting (even darker than the last ones, if that's possible) and the art was perfectly paired with the story. I think it's the most different in the book and first I wasn't really sure about it but it really fits well. The story talks about two friends, one is the narrator and he tries to help his friend feeling better - although it seems to be quite impossible to do so and he starts to be scared himself. I think this one is best understood if you've read the original classic, although it has a lot of detail and story in the manga, it's quite a complex story.


I actually enjoyed all the stories and the art. They are all really different from each other, the only thing in common being how dark they are. I surprisingly loved this manga and for sure I need to read more Edgar Allan Poe! Totally recommended if you are into dark or unsettling stories!

I received an advanced copy of Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Edgar Allen Poe’s stories have been transformed into almost every media possible, so it should come as no surprise that he’s finally made his way into manga form. Five of his most famous works are included in this novel, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven, and the Fall of the House of Usher. This book is releasing at the perfect time of year, being out and available on the shelves by Halloween.
The Tell-Tale Heart is the story of a man going mad and murdering an older gentleman he lives with. This story is truly creepy and eerie and is really enhanced by the imagery accompanying it. The face of the man shows his emotions (and lack of sanity) in such a way that it brings the story to a whole new level.
The Cask of Amontillado is probably my favorite of Poe’s works, and is about a man driven by the concept of getting revenge on a man who has slighted him. There’s a lot of play of words going on in this story (for example the two characters in the story have vastly different ideas of what a mason is). The story is both beautiful and disturbing, as is the artwork that accompanies it.
The Raven is possibly Poe’s best known work, and is a poem about a man descending into madness at the loss of his lover. It’s a poem that has almost a musical quality to it, and which artwork compliments perfectly.
The Masque of the Red Death is about a Prince’s desperate attempts to stave off mortality (represented as the plague called the Red Death) by shutting himself and his court into a lavish and isolated abbey. This story is very much an allegory about death and its inevitability, and flows very well with the help of artwork to tell the story.
The Fall of the House of Umber is a perfect example of Poe’s totality (where every detail and event is connected to the rest), it’s the tale of a man who rushes to the aid of his side friend, only to discover that things are worse than he believed. Events descend into madness as the emotional state of the characters takes its toll. This story translates superbly into manga form, and flows very smoothly with the details being translated into a more visual sense.
This novel would be perfect for both people who are new to Poe’s works, as well as for long-time fans of his. Stacy King flawlessly translated Poe’s works into manga, making as few changes to the stories (usually just trimming them down) as possible. The effect enhances the stories being told, blending his spine-tingling tales with visual evocative images. I’ll confess I was only able to read one story a night, as I found them so intense and so beautiful I couldn’t continue to the second right away.

I was so pleased with this Manga version of Edgar Allen Poes works! it's beautifully illustrated and follows the poems and short stories so well. It's one of my new favorite classic manga editions!

Not the best Manga transposition I read by now, but if you haven't read E.A.Poe's most famous short stories, this could be a good introduction.

Non la migliore trasposizione manga che abbia letto fino ad ora, ma se vi serve una piccola introduzione alle migliori storie brevi scritte da Edgar Allan Poe, questo fumetto potrebbe fare al caso vostro.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

I've loved the match between the manga and the Poe's poetry. The drawing's atmosphere is creepy just enough to scare the reader added to the text.

I love the way its written, the drawings and the creepy stories that I was expecting because is Poe. Love it.

The artwork on the cover initially attracted me to my first Manga Classic, The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe, but I was completely blown away by the detail in every illustration. The interpretation of each story was impressive. You can tell a lot of research went into this retelling. The book also adds little-known facts about Poe, his writing and his life, which is a nice touch. I look forward to reading more Manga Classics.

First off, I want to give a huge thank you to NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: This book is based off the classic stories by Edgar Allan Poe. The book is a manga modernized version of the stories. The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe includes; The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death and The Fall of the House of Usher. This graphic novel is targeted for young adult and teenage readers. It has different artwork by different artist for each story.

Review: I absolutely loved this manga! I know I usually post fiction reviews but I have to admit I like my manga too. My inner nerd was screaming out to me when it saw manga and Poe in one book. I felt like this book was the perfect modernized creation of Poe possible. The artwork was beautiful and the stories had me on the edge of my seat turning pages. Who knew Poe could be so much fun? I think this book is great for students, so they can learn the work of Poe without all that out of date language. Students and other young people will be able to get the same great feel and thrill that Poe gives us, it would just be delivered in an more modernized and artistic fashion.

I was interested in purchasing the book for my teenage son as this is his favorite author. I was disappointed though the illustrations are all in black and white. The book would be improved greatly with color illustrations.

Deliciously creepy, both the drawings (I am speechless) and the story (but we knew that already). I hope more stories by E. A. Poe are to come in this format, because as far as I'm concerned, this volume is a huge success.

The artwork was eerie and unsettling at times, a perfect pairing for the stories. The mask of the red death may very well have been my favorite but they were all really well done.

This graphic novel of classic works by Edgar Alan Poe gets a 3.5 because there are some greta hits but some deep misses.
Manga Classic has turned a variety of classics into a new format to reach a new generation. As long as these adaptations are true to the original works, I greatly support this. This particular ___ does well staying with the original works. In fact, the text and language comes from Poe's work. While this seems a little weird with the modern art work, it allows the text to stay true to the source material.
There is some great interpretations. The Raven is beautifully drawn and creatively brings out the ideas a of angels and demons. The symbolism is superb.
But other stories suffer. The Red Masque of Death is damaged by the black and white style. Colors are important to the tale and not having those visuals dulls the tale.
This manga is a good way to get people started in Poe but should not be the end of their study in these classic tales of horror.

If your not used to the manga tradition of reading back to front this can be slightly confusing to start with but once you are used to it becomes easier. The book is well designed and beautifully illustrated though out and brings new life to classic works of Edgar Allan Poe.

I haven't read many graphic novels, and the concept for this book intrigued me. The artwork is well done, but unfortunately, it didn't all come together for me in the end. Perhaps I just prefer my classics in book form rather than in graphic novel form.

I love Edgar Allan Poe, but I've never read him in graphic novel/manga form before. It took a bit of getting used to, but once I did, wowie. This is such a great way to get people that might not like reading or be the best readers to pick up a classic and read it. Poe is one of those authors that you think about his work long after you finish it, and this will allow other people to experience that. I would recommend this. 5 out of 5 stars.

This Works Surprisingly Well

I turned to this volume as a bit of a lark, being curious as to how Poe could be translated to modern style manga. I was surprised and pleased with the presentation, and especially impressed by how much of the eldritch feeling of these particular tales was enhanced by the artwork.

The selection of tales, (The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado, The Raven, The Tell Tale Heart), is classic, and for a new reader they would serve as a fine introduction to Poe. For those who have read Poe regularly over the years this selection of tales still holds up as a comfortable and satisfying reminder of his power.

This being in manga format, the tales have had to be abridged and reworked a good bit in order to fit the style and the panels, but the adaptations are remarkably faithful and complete, and capture the feel, mood, and flow of the stories very well. "The Raven" appears in its entirety, as it must, but of course its form fits nicely with the layout anyway.

Sometimes manga artwork can become so busy and fussy, or so blank, spare and cryptic, that storytelling suffers. Here, I was pleasantly surprised by how effectively the drawings were melded with the narrative, and how each enhanced the other. Even if you aren't a huge fan of manga the drawing here really did work well with the stories, and brought the proper level of darkness, atmosphere, and brooding madness to the tales. I was also taken by the various artists' occasional indulgences, (especially in "The House of Usher", but actually in all of the tales), by which they would abandon a more realistic drawing style in favor of impressionistic and fantastic panels. Given the nature of the stories these flights of fancy, which were not overdone, worked well and highlighted the extravagantly terrible nature of the tales.

The upshot for me was that this ended up being a satisfying, entertaining, and enjoyable treatment of these Poe favorites, and a commendable approach to interpreting Poe. An interesting find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)