The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe is a brilliant collection of some of his best-known stories: The Tell Tale Heart , The Cask of Amontillado , and The Fall of the House of Usher an ancient house full of dark secrets. Also included in this collection are The Mask of the Red Death , and the most famous of all his poems: The Raven .

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.

Edgar Allen Poe is one of those authors who casts an extremely long shadow. References to and reimaginings of his work are absolutely everywhere, and despite his relatively small output, he’s someone you need to be familiar with in order to fully engage with all sorts of things.

This book contains manga versions of five of his best-known stories. Each narrative is fully illustrated by a different artist giving their own spin on the story. I was curious at first to see how they managed to do that with The Pit and the Pendulum, given that the story takes place in almost total darkness, but it turns out that one is not included.

I must admit that my initial reaction to the idea of “Manga Classics” was less than warm. So often, I find that attempts to make the classics modern and relevant only manage to do so by removing all that made them worth reading. You get Shakespeare without the layers, Austen without the bite, and so on. The classics are classics because they have some quality which withstands the ravages of time. Any adaptation that loses that quality is worse than useless – a pallid cargo-cult version that takes focus from the original.

Despite that, that I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It’s not a simplification or a re-imagining; it’s an illustrated version. It’s Poe’s words, in Poe’s stories, just with pictures added. I am sure that there have been elisions and omissions in order to adapt to a new medium, but they are subtle and well-done enough that it is not an issue. No sentences or ideas are missing that should be included.

The art isn’t a replacement for the words, it’s an accompaniment that shifts the significance of certain things. I’m very attached to The Tell-tale Heart, and I found that the choice of narrative moments to illustrate shone a different light on the story. It’s still the same tale of growing madness, but a different flavour of it. It was fascinating to read someone else’s perspective and see what they chose to emphasise.

This book does commit whole-heartedly to the manga concept, which I did find a little irritating at times – manga read from back-to-front and right-to-left normally, and this book follows that pattern. However, manga are also normally written in Japanese, where that layout makes sense. It makes much less sense, although it is true to form, when written in English. On an e-reader, it’s just annoying.

The art style, though the book was illustrated by several different artists, is all in the distinctive manga style. I find that that style doesn’t lend itself as well to gloom as to excitement, and I was a little worried that it would detract from the stories and their general misery. However, though the style is distinctive, its quite restrained, and there are only a few moments where dessicated corpses look a little too cheerful and big-eyed.

Overall, I was surprisingly impressed by this. The art is appealing, the stories are detailed and in Poe’s words. All the ideas and the horror are still present. For an adaptation of a classic into another medium, it’s very well done.

Edgar Allan Poe is a prolific writer whose works have been read again and again by a great number of people. I, myself, have only truly really liked a small number of his works though I know many who deeply adore much more than that. For me, horror has never been my most enjoyed genre. And yet, as a result of my reading a number of my previously beloved stories in graphic novel or manga format, I found myself curious about how the works of Poe would translate into such a format. And I can say that, while certainly creepy at times, the illustrations truly worked to move my interest in a more developed manner.

There was certainly something quite fascinating about reading <i>The Tell Tale Heart</i> in the format of a manga. Naturally, the tale was dark and the images would reflect that, but somehow I enjoyed reading it quite a lot more than I ever initially had while reading the story on its own. To have the character telling the story while in a mental institution was, quite frankly, masterful to see and I enjoyed the other works illustrated in this book much more as well. It’s amazing, truly, what a few brilliant illustrations can do.

Ultimately, I was a lot more impressed than I imagined I would be. Initially I had requested this out of curiosity and as a result of having friends who have enjoyed the works of Poe for nearly their whole lives and I am pleased to say that I see this as a well-crafted and enjoyable restructuring of the stories we have all, at some point in our lives, been introduced to.

<i>I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I received this book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review.

Having read few times the same stories I wasn't surprise about the stories themselves . But I'm definitely very very happy with this manga adaptation of some of Edgar Allan Poe most famous stories.
The dialogs and the descriptions are really well written. Keeping for the most part the old fashion English language in contrast with the more modern manga style, make this book an interesting read.
The manga side is surprisingly refreshing, I was hesitant at first because I couldn't really imagine it. The highly define drawings in the mid XIX century context is an unexpected fusion that works in every single one of the stories.

I'd recommend this book to everybody, from big Poe fans to people new to the genre, it's a particularly good read before bed time in autumn, around Halloween time.

I'm a Poe fanatic absolutely adored this! I try to read everything related to his books ever since we started reading about him in middle school!

THis is such a great way for us to read these classic books that sometimes, quite frankly are boring. Ive always loved Edgar Allan Poe's stories and seeing them in manga(comic) form was great. The artwork was wonderful. it brought his stories to new life.

Edgar Allan Poe’s stories have always been classics and I think most people have enjoyed them overall. With Stacy King writing these mangas, this is sure not to disappoint!

Probably what I love best about Stacy King’s writing is that the reader can really feel the emotion of the characters whether it be fear, anger, or even happiness. The reader feels like they truly understand the characters, not just that s/he is a bystander in the story.

I really did enjoy this manga, however, I felt a little disconnect for whatever reason…possibly that all of the stories are dark. It’s also possibly I struggled because there was a lot of description, and if anyone knows me, I get sidetracked then. My favorite story was the last one of the manga, which I also think happens to be the longest. One more Manga Classic left after this one :/

I have read many stories by Edgar Allen Poe, but never like this.
For anyone who may struggle with understanding the narrative behind his stories, but is still interested in classic literature, this book would be for you.
This is not someone else's version of Edgar Allen Poe, or someones personal take on his stories, these are his stories, these are his words, set to illustrations. I think that is important to note.

I really enjoyed reading this

I'm not huge on manga but I always usually like the art style of it. This was also, IMO, the focal point of the book. The art work was so fun and brought the stories to life so well - it was nice seeing his work illustrated and also a great way to get kids into his stories.

It still really captured the 'creepy' vibe and I think it was executed wonderfully.

Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most influential writers of literature. I've read his stories many times and they still thrill every time. Ask any of the current thriller authors about Edgar Allen Poe and they will tell you their favorite story. His life is almost as thrilling as his books. If you have not read any Edgar Allen Poe, I consider you an under privileged individual. You should get your own copy, find a quiet place with plenty of light....do not read his books with the lights off...and enjoy the ride.

In all honesty, I first had interest in this book for the story "The Fall of the House of Usher." After reading it, though, I had found that the other stories intrigued me more! The art style isn't typical of what I usually am drawn to, but it actually went very well with Poe's stories. I highly recommend this manga if you're a fan of Poe!

“And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted- Nevermore!”

Disclaimer: I have never read a book or a story form Edgar Allan Poe, and I decided to throw myself into this manga hoping to feel the gloomy and disturbing atmospheres whereby the author is famous. The experiment was successful.

The manga is divided into five stories, I will give my divided opinions:

The tell-tale heart:
It was the first story-manga I read and I immediately appreciated it. Beautiful designs, just for the subject matter. Excellent choice of perspectives and phrases of effect.
On great impact.

The cask of Amontillado:
Unfortunately, I did not like the drawings or the story here, even though they are doing well in the collection.

The raven:
It Continues the feeling of disquiet and paranoia, well done scenes in this story, I liked the artistic styles. Very good.

The mask of the red death:
Oh, that's great. I Adored it. It gives the feeling of being in a dark place reading this story, perhaps during a dark and stormy night. Excellent drawings, excellent script. Truly phenomenal. The best.


The fall of the House of Usher:
Perhaps it is the most difficult to read, the one with the most captions. Difficult to start, then the reader is drawn into a vortex of madness and chills. It makes you keep the breath to the end, even the drawings are great for the story, simple yet effective.


A great choice.

The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe is a worthy compilation of the horror master’s most popular tales, adapted to a sleek manga style. Each is the exact dialogue and malcontent spirit of the original, and each features a different artist.

If this does not motivate you to get to know Poe better, nothing ever will.
Thank you to everyone involved in the marketing and supplying of this ARC. Thank you Netgally for granting me this from the wish list.

This is a neat manga style interpretation of Edgar Allen Poet's writing. As a PowerBook this would incredibly awesome. As an ebook, it is read backwards, which takes a little getting used to. The illustrations are well done and the text us true to Edgar Allen Poe. Would be nice for middle school or high school aged kids reading Poe's work as supplement to aid understanding.

Great manga/comic book about the legend himself. This book is beautifully illustrated and the story is really gripping. The poems just live for themselves in this book.

Description: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe is a brilliant collection of some of his best-known stories: The Tell Tale Heart (a murder’s haunting guilt), The Cask of Amontillado (a story of brilliant revenge), and The Fall of the House of Usher (an ancient house full of very dark secretes). Also included in this collection are The Mask of the Red Death (horrors of ‘the Plague’), and the most famous of all his poems: The Raven (a lover’s decline into madness). Best read in a dimly-lit room with the curtains drawn, Poe’s brilliant works come to life in darkly thrilling ways in this Manga Classic adaptation.

I love Edgar Allen Poe, the creepiness of his stories. His stories are great to read in the fall. To get you in the mood of everything fall. He knows where to get you especially when you read them late at night in the dark. There is not of story of his that I don’t like. I can read his stories any time of the year. He creates such atmosphere within each one he has written. I would always recommend his stories.

The Tell-Tale Heart: Something about the added illustrations adds so much more horror to the story itself. The text itself seemed to be directly taken from Poe's tale, but the depth and intensity of the illustrations, especially the narrator's facial expressions, added a whole other layer to the tales.

The Cask of Amontillado: While I still enjoyed the illustrations, they didn't add as much to the story as with The Tell-Tale Heart. This may be due to how well the original tale already was at inspiring horror, and the illustrations could not top that.

The Raven - While I liked the artistic style of this story, and the illustrations in general, I'm not sure if they were the best match for the story. The narrator/main character almost seems too young, and the lighting of most of the panels seems oddly white/bright for a spooky story. This led to the story being less scary, even though the sorrow and other emotions still came through.

The Masque of the Red Death - I had actually completely forgotten I had read this story until I recognized the opening scene. Once again, I quite liked the chosen illustrations for everything, and especially liked how well they brought to life the descriptions of the revels! However, with such bright color and joy pictured clearly, it obscured the gloom creeping up in the story, which may be both good and bad.

The Fall of the House of Usher: This seems to be the only tale I didn't have prior experience with. I feel as if this made me focus too much on the text, and working to understand the story, rather than on the illustrations and how well they worked together. The main issue I did notice here was that the story itself is already extremely description heavy, so the illustrations sometimes felt unnecessary. However, the extreme caricatures of Usher definitely worked in the story's favor, as it allowed me to much more easily picture and understand how affected he was.

Overall, I felt this was a quite solid "Manga Classic," and I loved what it did for Poe's legendary tales. Not only did the illustrations add (for the most part) to the dark and gloomy descriptions and settings of Poe's tales, they also worked to pace the reader, and make us take time with each line, each image, truly letting the emotion and depth of the tale sink in before moving on to the next page.

Edgar Allen Poe’s writings have always been a favorite of mine. I originally read all of the poems/short stories in this manga adaptation years ago, with the exception of The Fall of The House of Usher.

While I highly recommend reading his work, I think this manga is enjoyable, and could also assist in understanding of the works. With art to go along with each story, it makes it much easier to follow what’s actually happening.

My only criticism was that sometimes the drawings were very sparse in detail. I’ve read a few of the other Manga Classics and I found this one to be my least favorite in terms of the art. The Raven And The Tell Tale Heart being the exceptions were well drawn and even beautiful at times.

I Love the Darkness of all the stories! Just up my alley with this book! Will always love them. My favs are The Tell Tale Heart and The Raven of his collections but I just hated The Black Cat... it made me cry being a person who loves animals!