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The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection
Universally acclaimed as the maestro of horror and the morbid, Edgar Allan Poe’s dark gift has for more than a century and a half set the standard for the genre.
Now, Caedmon Audio presents a classic collection of Poe’s most terrifying tales performed by two of the most brilliant interpreters of his work, Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone. Between them, they perform 20 of Poe’s chilling stories and poems, creating an unforgettably intense listening experience.
Includes:
• The Gold Bug
• The Imp of the Perverse
• Ligeia Performed by Vincent Price
• The Tell-Tale Heart
• The Pit and the Pendulum
• The Raven Performed by Basil Rathbone
Now, Caedmon Audio presents a classic collection of Poe’s most terrifying tales performed by two of the most brilliant interpreters of his work, Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone. Between them, they perform 20 of Poe’s chilling stories and poems, creating an unforgettably intense listening experience.
Includes:
• The Gold Bug
• The Imp of the Perverse
• Ligeia Performed by Vincent Price
• The Tell-Tale Heart
• The Pit and the Pendulum
• The Raven Performed by Basil Rathbone
Audiobook
Published December 27, 2003
25 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,942 books28.9k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
July 6, 2020
I have definitely overdosed on this trip down memory lane. It will be at least a few weeks or months before I pick another Poe or listen to Vincent Price or Basel Rathbone again. I was up all night listening, and woke bleary-eyed, determined to move on to another genre. This morning on my walk I listened to a suspenseful, psychological thriller with a crafty protagonist who bests his enemies in an exciting final twist - The Fantastic Mr. Fox (how far would you go to save your family?) I think I'm through with Dahl for a while too!
September 20, 2021
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
First, here is the table of contents because this audiobook doesn’t come with one. All the stories just run into each other so you need this table of contents if you want to find a specific story/poem. Also thanks Tom (another reviewer on Audible) for providing this list.
1.) 0:10 - 2:03 To -----
2.) 2:03 - 3:10 Alone
3.) 3:15 - 6:23 The City in the Sea
4.) 6:28 - 31:20 Berenice
5.) 31:25 - 55:28 The Fall of the House of Usher *
6.) 55:30 - 1:44:27 Ligeia
7.) 1:44:30 - 1:46:49 excerpt from The Fall of the House of Usher
8.) 1:46:55 - 2:18:43 The Pit and the Pendulum
9.) 2:18:46 - 2:35:27 The Masque of the Red Death
10.) 2:35:33 - 2:49:37 The Tell-Tale Heart
11.) 2:49:40 - 3:45:27 The Gold Bug
12.) 3:45:30 - 4:12:19 The Black Cat
13.) 4:12:25 - 4:20:58 The Raven
14.) 4:21:03 - 4:38:00 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
15.) 4:38:01 - 4:54:07 The Cask of Amontillado
16.) 4:54:13 - 4:58:23 The Bells
17.) 4:58:28 - 5:00:35 Annabel Lee
18.) 5:00:40 - 5:01:19 Eldorado
19.) 5:01:25 - 5:16:00 The Imp of the Perverse
20.) 5:16:06 - 5:31:22 Morella
Also, some of these stories are abridged. I know for sure The Fall of House of Usher is missing sections and paragraphs. I don’t know for sure about the other stories but I assume they are also missing some parts.
This is a pretty good collection of stories and poems from Poe. I like almost all of these so it was great to listen to them, especially with Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone as the narrators. Of these versions I think my favorite was The Pit and the Pendulum with Price as the narrator. He really brought out the horror of that story and made it feel very spooky.
Overall, this was an enjoyable collection even with the formatting problems. I read Poe’s stories every year around this time and I really enjoyed the horror and emotion captured in this audio collection.
You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
First, here is the table of contents because this audiobook doesn’t come with one. All the stories just run into each other so you need this table of contents if you want to find a specific story/poem. Also thanks Tom (another reviewer on Audible) for providing this list.
1.) 0:10 - 2:03 To -----
2.) 2:03 - 3:10 Alone
3.) 3:15 - 6:23 The City in the Sea
4.) 6:28 - 31:20 Berenice
5.) 31:25 - 55:28 The Fall of the House of Usher *
6.) 55:30 - 1:44:27 Ligeia
7.) 1:44:30 - 1:46:49 excerpt from The Fall of the House of Usher
8.) 1:46:55 - 2:18:43 The Pit and the Pendulum
9.) 2:18:46 - 2:35:27 The Masque of the Red Death
10.) 2:35:33 - 2:49:37 The Tell-Tale Heart
11.) 2:49:40 - 3:45:27 The Gold Bug
12.) 3:45:30 - 4:12:19 The Black Cat
13.) 4:12:25 - 4:20:58 The Raven
14.) 4:21:03 - 4:38:00 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
15.) 4:38:01 - 4:54:07 The Cask of Amontillado
16.) 4:54:13 - 4:58:23 The Bells
17.) 4:58:28 - 5:00:35 Annabel Lee
18.) 5:00:40 - 5:01:19 Eldorado
19.) 5:01:25 - 5:16:00 The Imp of the Perverse
20.) 5:16:06 - 5:31:22 Morella
Also, some of these stories are abridged. I know for sure The Fall of House of Usher is missing sections and paragraphs. I don’t know for sure about the other stories but I assume they are also missing some parts.
This is a pretty good collection of stories and poems from Poe. I like almost all of these so it was great to listen to them, especially with Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone as the narrators. Of these versions I think my favorite was The Pit and the Pendulum with Price as the narrator. He really brought out the horror of that story and made it feel very spooky.
Overall, this was an enjoyable collection even with the formatting problems. I read Poe’s stories every year around this time and I really enjoyed the horror and emotion captured in this audio collection.
You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
July 2, 2009
Poe stories read by Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone seems like a guaranteed proposition. And certainly it is neither the material nor the readings that constitute the problems here.
The volume (at least on the copy I got) was so quiet that I had to turn the radio in my car all the way up in order to hear it, and even then sometimes the quiet parts were too quiet. Also, the titles of the stories and poems aren't ever given. While all of the pieces are easily recognizable to the enthusiast, the lack of titles still seems somewhat off-putting. Finally, each story or poem is its own separate track, which is useful in finding particular tales, but it means that the very long stories (and a couple clock in at over 40 minutes) have no way to navigate within them if you have to stop listening in the middle. Some chapter breaks within the longer stories would have been beneficial.
Ultimately, these are quibbles with production, though, not with content. The important part (hearing Price and Rathbone reading Edgar Allan Poe) is intact, and is definitely worth the experience.
The volume (at least on the copy I got) was so quiet that I had to turn the radio in my car all the way up in order to hear it, and even then sometimes the quiet parts were too quiet. Also, the titles of the stories and poems aren't ever given. While all of the pieces are easily recognizable to the enthusiast, the lack of titles still seems somewhat off-putting. Finally, each story or poem is its own separate track, which is useful in finding particular tales, but it means that the very long stories (and a couple clock in at over 40 minutes) have no way to navigate within them if you have to stop listening in the middle. Some chapter breaks within the longer stories would have been beneficial.
Ultimately, these are quibbles with production, though, not with content. The important part (hearing Price and Rathbone reading Edgar Allan Poe) is intact, and is definitely worth the experience.
July 6, 2017
The editors did a good job of including some of Poe's best short stories and poems in this anthology, and it would have been hard to find two better-suited performers for the material than Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price. This would have been a highly enjoyable audiobook worthy of 4 stars, but the sound quality was poor throughout. It often sounded as if the stories were being read in an echoing cave, and for a couple of the stories Basil Rathbone performed, at times the echo was so bad that his words were unintelligible.
September 3, 2019
Poe, read by Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone?
Amazing. :D
Amazing. :D
January 25, 2020
I had no particular knowledge of Poe beyond The Raven when I started this collection, but it contains a whole hell of a lot of his classics - The Pit And The Pendulum is here, The Tell-Tale Heart is here, The Fall Of The House Of Usher's here, The Raven's obviously here, Annabel Lee is here, Ligeia's here, The Masque of the Red Death, The Gold Bug and quite a lot more besides - all read by either Vincent Price or Basil Rathbone.
He's quite the shock-goth, is Poe. Lots of his stories build and build to a sharp pencil-point and then leave you flailing, gasping for breath at the end, as he moves on to something new, like being driven on and on towards a horrorgasm and then being allowed no comedown from the pitch of utmost sweaty, shivering, what-the-hell-just-happened fear. There's absolutely no cuddling with Poe, it's all just wham, bam aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh, there's a RAT ON MY FACE!
He also has recurring themes which undoubtedly spoke more to his age than to ours - people put pre-emptively in their tombs and finding their way back out is a big thing for Poe, and of course now we know this did happen - people were assumed to be dead, and occasionally found themselves with no alternative but to scratch and thump and scream in their coffins in the hope that somebody would hear them before their oxygen ran out or they died of thirst.
He's also big on the punishing power of the soul - what else is the Tell-Tale Heart but the impact of guilt on a murderer, while sitting blagging his way through an interview with the police? Believe it or not, it's only while listening to this collection that I really GOT how weird The Raven is, as a story-poem. Mourning man, hiding from the world, wailing inwardly in his grief...in walks a talking bird, refuses to leave, ever. It's a depression metaphor, I assume - long before Churchill's black dog or Susan Calman's crab of hate, there's Poe and his oppressive, lowering bird of accusation, hate and soul-sapping accusation.
Of them all, I'd have to declare a particular...well, liking is probably the wrong word, but a particular appreciation for The Pit And The Pendulum, which is horrifyingly dark more or less all along the way - imprisonment by the Inquisition, stuck at the bottom of a pit, given salty food and no water, just so people can imagine you thirsting to madness, a slowly lowering axe-bladed pendulum coming closer, and closer, and closer, and...the way in which salvation comes, which is almost as bad as being slowly sliced in two - there's hardly a moment's respite in the whole story, which makes for a very shivery, sweaty read. I also really enjoyed The Tell-Tale Heart - not so much for the moral or the growing guilt-reaction, but for the confidential, almost winking way the murderer co-opts you into their crimes at the beginning of the story. You really quite grow to like them, and more or less go along with their hideous crime by virtue of the cleverness with which they accomplish it. Orrrr...maybe that's just me and I need psychotherapy.
Check out The Gold Bug too - it's less a horror story, more a positively deranged Sherlock Holmes-style piece of deduction, resulting in fortune for all concerned. Fairly screamingly racist - a major plot twist hangs on a man of colour not being able to tell his left from his right - but in its essence a good story.
If I'm honest, it's when Poe gets more openly romantic that he grows quickly tiresome. Ligeia, for instance, I can be happy having heard only the one in my life. Nevertheless, as a collection, this felt like a thorough introduction to the man, his themes, his style and some of the reasons why his work is as well regarded as it is. Like several bestselling authors, he did that thing where he had a solid handful of instances where he bottled lightning and blew the doors off the place, and certainly that handful still stand up today.
Oh also, did I mention - Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone. Price of course was not the overpronouncing stereotype people thing of him as being, his diction was clear and rich and juicy, and he brings it to bear here, delivering a narration that engages and carries you with it. Of the two though, Rathbone's the revelation - he acts his heart out in these stories, and some of them need it to fully hit you with the power of the writing. Certainly it's Rathbone who reads the stories that have made most of the positive impact on me, and hearing him speak and act makes me want to seek out his work on screen, which is an additional bonus of experiencing this collection of stories in the audio format.
He's quite the shock-goth, is Poe. Lots of his stories build and build to a sharp pencil-point and then leave you flailing, gasping for breath at the end, as he moves on to something new, like being driven on and on towards a horrorgasm and then being allowed no comedown from the pitch of utmost sweaty, shivering, what-the-hell-just-happened fear. There's absolutely no cuddling with Poe, it's all just wham, bam aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh, there's a RAT ON MY FACE!
He also has recurring themes which undoubtedly spoke more to his age than to ours - people put pre-emptively in their tombs and finding their way back out is a big thing for Poe, and of course now we know this did happen - people were assumed to be dead, and occasionally found themselves with no alternative but to scratch and thump and scream in their coffins in the hope that somebody would hear them before their oxygen ran out or they died of thirst.
He's also big on the punishing power of the soul - what else is the Tell-Tale Heart but the impact of guilt on a murderer, while sitting blagging his way through an interview with the police? Believe it or not, it's only while listening to this collection that I really GOT how weird The Raven is, as a story-poem. Mourning man, hiding from the world, wailing inwardly in his grief...in walks a talking bird, refuses to leave, ever. It's a depression metaphor, I assume - long before Churchill's black dog or Susan Calman's crab of hate, there's Poe and his oppressive, lowering bird of accusation, hate and soul-sapping accusation.
Of them all, I'd have to declare a particular...well, liking is probably the wrong word, but a particular appreciation for The Pit And The Pendulum, which is horrifyingly dark more or less all along the way - imprisonment by the Inquisition, stuck at the bottom of a pit, given salty food and no water, just so people can imagine you thirsting to madness, a slowly lowering axe-bladed pendulum coming closer, and closer, and closer, and...the way in which salvation comes, which is almost as bad as being slowly sliced in two - there's hardly a moment's respite in the whole story, which makes for a very shivery, sweaty read. I also really enjoyed The Tell-Tale Heart - not so much for the moral or the growing guilt-reaction, but for the confidential, almost winking way the murderer co-opts you into their crimes at the beginning of the story. You really quite grow to like them, and more or less go along with their hideous crime by virtue of the cleverness with which they accomplish it. Orrrr...maybe that's just me and I need psychotherapy.
Check out The Gold Bug too - it's less a horror story, more a positively deranged Sherlock Holmes-style piece of deduction, resulting in fortune for all concerned. Fairly screamingly racist - a major plot twist hangs on a man of colour not being able to tell his left from his right - but in its essence a good story.
If I'm honest, it's when Poe gets more openly romantic that he grows quickly tiresome. Ligeia, for instance, I can be happy having heard only the one in my life. Nevertheless, as a collection, this felt like a thorough introduction to the man, his themes, his style and some of the reasons why his work is as well regarded as it is. Like several bestselling authors, he did that thing where he had a solid handful of instances where he bottled lightning and blew the doors off the place, and certainly that handful still stand up today.
Oh also, did I mention - Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone. Price of course was not the overpronouncing stereotype people thing of him as being, his diction was clear and rich and juicy, and he brings it to bear here, delivering a narration that engages and carries you with it. Of the two though, Rathbone's the revelation - he acts his heart out in these stories, and some of them need it to fully hit you with the power of the writing. Certainly it's Rathbone who reads the stories that have made most of the positive impact on me, and hearing him speak and act makes me want to seek out his work on screen, which is an additional bonus of experiencing this collection of stories in the audio format.
September 24, 2019
I used to have a beautiful picture book of Poe's collected stories as a kid. I loved reading the stories; Pit and the Pendulum scared the crap out of me and I will always love the Annabelle Lee poem. When I saw that there was an audiobook of a collection of Poe's short stories, I decided a revisit was in order. There were some new ones for me here that I loved: The Facts in the Case of of M. Valdemar and Black Cat especially. It was also great to revisit some classics. However, a few of the lesser hits dragged for me. There are a few too many 'wife dies and it's spoooooooky' stories for me; it got repetitious quickly. I remain a Poe fan, but I think his greatest known stories are emphasized for a reason.
Edition note: the audio quality in a lot of this was poor. I ended up going to YouTube for alternatives because I couldn't hear it well. It was a good reading guide for finding which stories to start with, however.
Edition note: the audio quality in a lot of this was poor. I ended up going to YouTube for alternatives because I couldn't hear it well. It was a good reading guide for finding which stories to start with, however.
September 17, 2021
Осень - идеальное время перечитать Эдгара По.
And, omg, it's narrated by legendary Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone!
And, omg, it's narrated by legendary Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone!
November 21, 2023
Poe is quickly becoming my favourite American author and poet
April 22, 2025
The audio version sounded like it was recorded inside of a tin can for some of the poems.
February 7, 2026
Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone narrating some of Poe’s most iconic works? Spectacular
November 7, 2018
The narrators of this collection of stories and poetry was amazing- for a theatrical performance. However a theatrical performance isn't always conducive to comprehension. While i felt like I was more fully in the mood of the stories, i would often miss parts between the poor audio quality (which i forgive since it was recorded long ago and i'd rather have these recordings than not) and the echo-ish quality that would come through especially in the most dramatic portions.
Poe's work as a whole though was very enjoyable to read again, it had been a long time since I had really sat down with his work and i wanted to re-read the best hits before going out and visiting key places of his life and death this past October. Sometimes it feels a little over the top, but when you remember that he was one of the first to really explore this style you can get over that feeling and just enjoy the creepiness.
Poe's work as a whole though was very enjoyable to read again, it had been a long time since I had really sat down with his work and i wanted to re-read the best hits before going out and visiting key places of his life and death this past October. Sometimes it feels a little over the top, but when you remember that he was one of the first to really explore this style you can get over that feeling and just enjoy the creepiness.
November 6, 2009
I don't like audio books very much. I can see their use if I commuted in a car, but since I take the train, I read. However, this is one of the few audios that I love.
Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone reading Poe is just the best. It is so AWESOME! So CREEPY! So PERFECT!
It helps that both Price and Rathbone are known for playing villans. Yes, I know Rathbone played Sherlock HOlmes, but I remember him best from Flynn's Robin Hood and that version of Richard II, The Tower of London I think it was called. (Anyway, for me the best Holmes is Jermey Brett).
Price, of course, is known for his various roles in various (somewhat bad) adaptions of Poe tales. If you like Poe and if you like creepy, this is worth the price. It includes the more famous tale as well as some poems.
Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone reading Poe is just the best. It is so AWESOME! So CREEPY! So PERFECT!
It helps that both Price and Rathbone are known for playing villans. Yes, I know Rathbone played Sherlock HOlmes, but I remember him best from Flynn's Robin Hood and that version of Richard II, The Tower of London I think it was called. (Anyway, for me the best Holmes is Jermey Brett).
Price, of course, is known for his various roles in various (somewhat bad) adaptions of Poe tales. If you like Poe and if you like creepy, this is worth the price. It includes the more famous tale as well as some poems.
October 31, 2016
La edición está culerona, aunque lo lean personas chingonas. La neta que no digan ni el título del cuento que están leyendo esta´del a verga. Porque pus así de la nada comienza y uno piensa que vergas estoy escuchando.
Pobre Edgar, hagan audiolibros chingones de él por favor.
Pobre Edgar, hagan audiolibros chingones de él por favor.
February 28, 2022
3 stars
I hadn't read any Poe for many, many years (elementary school, maybe?) so I was a bit rusty. I'm not the biggest gothic fan, but after a couple of stories I was reminded that Poe is just a very good author. His use of language is lovely, and I found that many of the stories were more about ambience, and feeling, rather than story.
I hadn't read any Poe for many, many years (elementary school, maybe?) so I was a bit rusty. I'm not the biggest gothic fan, but after a couple of stories I was reminded that Poe is just a very good author. His use of language is lovely, and I found that many of the stories were more about ambience, and feeling, rather than story.
January 3, 2016
Old-fashioned, of course. But beyond the Gothic is the genius. A masterful storyteller whose poetry hangs on solid structure and whose prose pulses with varying rhythms of emotion. Such a drive to all his works.
January 28, 2020
The readings by Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price are dramatic and enticing representations of the dark writings of Poe, but the collection seems like a strangely strung "best of" rather than thematic selection.
September 10, 2020
This was the audio reenactment of twenty of some of Poe's most famous stories and poems, performed by Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone. I have always enjoyed Poe's work, but hearing it performed brings it to a completely new level.
August 21, 2023
Somehow a little disappointed, i probably expected more.
House of Usher, the mask of the Red Death, the Tell tale hearth, The Gold Bug and the Black Cat were clear 4.5 stars.
The remaining 3 stars
House of Usher, the mask of the Red Death, the Tell tale hearth, The Gold Bug and the Black Cat were clear 4.5 stars.
The remaining 3 stars
November 13, 2014
The macabre short storeys and poems of Poe read by Vincent Pirce and Basil Rathbone. It is not the best sound quality but good.
October 25, 2015
This was a nice late-October listen.
May 26, 2017
These were very well read but I was unable to finish the book as I had to return it to the library. 😞
September 11, 2020
This review refers to the Caedmon audio CD only... The incredibly short story "The Imp of the Perverse" is, incredibly, abridged! Others may be abridged as well, beware!
August 9, 2021
Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone give an outstanding presentation of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Well written but not that interesting and rather dated.
August 21, 2021
Loved to hear these stories in the voice of Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price!!
October 27, 2021
Of course, Poe is a legend so there's nothing new to critique his work. Shorted a star due to this particular work - a couple minor audio issues, etc.
October 14, 2023
Listened to on Audible in its entirety and thoroughly enjoyed on the graveyard shift at my job.
April 30, 2025
Poe narrated by Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price? This was bound to be good!
For the most part, the stories were incredibly interesting. I have (regrettably) not read many of P0e's works, so only the most famous stories (The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, etc.) were familiar to me, so most of the stories and poems in this collection were completely new to me! Rathbone and Price do a wonderful job with the narration. As horror icons, they bring the perfect amount of spookiness to Poe's works to leave the reader thinking "Mhm. This is how Poe intended this to be read".
There were a few issues with the collection. First, the titles of works are not announced at all. A devoted Poe fan might immediately recognize the story that is being read, but someone like me certainly would not. Helpfully, the listing here on Goodreads has all of the stories listed, and perhaps the physical CD collection does as well. But if you get this through Libby (like I did), you are given "Track 1", "Track 2", etc. etc. The volume was also a little weird. I am half convinced that this is just me being picky, but the dramatized readings had moments where the narrator was almost whispering, and other moments where they were yelling. 100% supposed to happen as part of their narration, but the whispering was almost too quiet. I had to have the volume almost all the way up, and then they would switch to yelling and I had to turn it down again. I know the volume is intentional, but I feel like the producers could have asked the narrators to speak up just a smidge. Again, not a big deal, just me being picky.
I picked this audio collection up because Vincent Price is absolute favorite horror star, and I was decently entertained by his and Rathbone's performances for several hours. I call that a win!
For the most part, the stories were incredibly interesting. I have (regrettably) not read many of P0e's works, so only the most famous stories (The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, etc.) were familiar to me, so most of the stories and poems in this collection were completely new to me! Rathbone and Price do a wonderful job with the narration. As horror icons, they bring the perfect amount of spookiness to Poe's works to leave the reader thinking "Mhm. This is how Poe intended this to be read".
There were a few issues with the collection. First, the titles of works are not announced at all. A devoted Poe fan might immediately recognize the story that is being read, but someone like me certainly would not. Helpfully, the listing here on Goodreads has all of the stories listed, and perhaps the physical CD collection does as well. But if you get this through Libby (like I did), you are given "Track 1", "Track 2", etc. etc. The volume was also a little weird. I am half convinced that this is just me being picky, but the dramatized readings had moments where the narrator was almost whispering, and other moments where they were yelling. 100% supposed to happen as part of their narration, but the whispering was almost too quiet. I had to have the volume almost all the way up, and then they would switch to yelling and I had to turn it down again. I know the volume is intentional, but I feel like the producers could have asked the narrators to speak up just a smidge. Again, not a big deal, just me being picky.
I picked this audio collection up because Vincent Price is absolute favorite horror star, and I was decently entertained by his and Rathbone's performances for several hours. I call that a win!
April 22, 2025
This is a very good collection of 20 of Edgar Allan Poe's works (stories and poems). These are old recordings done by Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price. Poe is a remarkable writer. Though most know him for his rather morbid stories; he was really very well rounded in that he touched on religion, politics, paranormal ideology and in some cases humor (or dark humor) to convey his stories. I must say, the final story of this recording is The Gold Bug and I found it to be an adventure story. I don't recall ever hearing about this one that takes place in the Carolina's. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the stories and poems. The reader/listener must keep in mind the time period that Poe wrote his works in as the verbiage is quite different from our current vernaculars and for some might be harder to grasp the words/meanings. Regardless, enjoy the varieties of these stories/poems, done by an acclaimed master storyteller.
January 10, 2025
I wasn't sure I had ever read Edgar Allen Poe, so I decided to try a collection of them. I'm sure he was the rage of horror/ghost stories in the 1800's. The Stephen King of his day.
One big beef with this audio collection... They didn't announce the title before they started each new section!! Arg! Tell me what you are reading please! Thankfully the Goodreads summary has them listed, so I had to keep referring to that.
I learned I liked his prose better than his poetry. Some of this stuff is still hard to grasp and understand because it's poetic and written in "old timey" language.
The Tale-tell heart was my favorite prose; The Bells was my favorite poem. I can see why Tale-tell Heart is one of his more popular ones.
One big beef with this audio collection... They didn't announce the title before they started each new section!! Arg! Tell me what you are reading please! Thankfully the Goodreads summary has them listed, so I had to keep referring to that.
I learned I liked his prose better than his poetry. Some of this stuff is still hard to grasp and understand because it's poetic and written in "old timey" language.
The Tale-tell heart was my favorite prose; The Bells was my favorite poem. I can see why Tale-tell Heart is one of his more popular ones.
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