Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Usborne Classics Retold: Usborne Classics Retold

by Tony Allan

Edgar Allan Poe's terrifying tales of horror and suspense shocked the world when they were first published 150 years ago. Chillingly retold for today's readers, they remain as powerful and exciting as the day they were first written.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

102 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 1996

About the author

After studying History at Oxford, Tony Allan worked for the British Broadcasting Company and as a magazine editor before turning to book publishing, including the Myth and Mankind series.

Reviews

[Christina Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had wanted to introduced my eleven year olds to Poe's writing, so we read this book of retellings of Poe's most famous stories. My kids really enjoyed this book, especially my son! Obviously, it's not going to be the same thing as reading the original stories, but I still think they were a good introduction to Poe's stories for younger readers.

[ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales of Mystery and Imagination is a collection of seven short stories by Edgar Allan Poe adapted for young readers. I found this in the children's section of Half Price Books for only $2.49. I'm so glad I put it in my basket. Now, onto the actual review:

The Masque of the Red Death (4/5):
This was a nice start to the collection. It was extremely fast paced and short, almost too short in my opinion. Poe could have done much more with this story. The rich imagery makes up for the short length. The descriptions of the setting were my favorite part.

Manuscript Found In a Bottle (5/5):
Like the previous tale, this was also extremely short, about 8 pages long. Even though it was short, it was still very enjoyable and simply chilling. I love stories with sailors and ships!

The Pit and the Pendulum (5/5):
"It was not so much the thought of seeing horrors that alarmed me as the idea that there might be nothing to see at all." This has to be my favorite one of them all! It was so interesting and gruesome and gross and frightening. I actually recoiled a few times while reading. I do wish that Poe would have written a full length novel with this one. I want more!

Metzengerstein (3/5):
This was my least favorite. It was a bit confusing. For some part of the story I wasn't really sure who was who. Then, when I finally got that figured out, I became bored. Oops.

The Telltale Heart (5/5):
Though not my favorite, I still love TTH very much. This was a reread for me, and it was so so so so so much better than the first time around.

The Fall of the House of Usher (4/5):
I'm a little unsure how I feel about this one. I was even confused with the ending. Nonetheless, it was still pretty interesting and entertaining.

The Gold Bug Parts I & II (4/5):
This was really interesting. It was the only solved mystery of the seven tales, so it was quite fun watching the characters figure it out. I believe this was a great end to the collection!

[Nhi Nguyễn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a tradition starting from 2018 of reading Edgar Allan Poe’s books during Halloween each year. And this year, I have chosen this book for my Halloween read. It is a collection of retold Poe’s short stories, so of course it is not as good as other collections of Poe’s original stories. This collection has 2 stories that were new to me, which are “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” and “Metzengerstein”, In my opinion, they are not as good as other Poe’s short stories that I have known before. However, being a massive Poe’s fan, I’m still glad that I got the chance to discover more Poe’s works through this collection. Overall, it was a solid 3-star read, perfect for this spooky season.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent retelling of the Poe stories with some nice pictures. The language was simplified and easy to understand without losing a lot of the story. Even though it wasn't exactly Poe it still did have the suspenseful feeling of him. Allan did a good job of what could have been a disaster

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read anything of Poe's for many years.
Simply not a fan of the darkness, but as an edited version, it served as a diversion. (word play intended)

[Urmi Chow · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general, the stories were not to my expectations after I read the introduction of this book depicting the short stories as suspensful, haunting, etc... The beginings of Edgar's stories start off interstingly but they finish quite abruptly with horrible endings that make no sense to me or they finish quite ordinarily with no twists that make you want to know more.The pacing of the stories seem rushed as if the author was looking to quickly be done with it and because of that it ruins the spooky vibe you may feel when you start reading them. But then again, how else can you proceed if you want to keep your story brief but at the same time entertaining for the mind?

The mask of red death: WTF where did the dude with the red mask come from + no suspense with his arrival.

Manuscript found in a bottle: Ghost ships?!? + The story went nowhere but down a whirl pool.

The pit and the pendulum: Actually not a bad, but the ending sucked.

The telltale heart: The main character is very...

Metzengerstein: I would have liked to know more about the horse, but still a good story.

The gold bug: I wished that the author would have shared the findinds of William before.

The fall of the house of usher: I liked it, too bad it was short...

If Poe further developped some of these stories, they would have been much more enjoyable to read, but then again, these are short stories to be enjoyed only very briefly.

[Alcare91 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this when I was 11 years old. It was good as an introduction to Edgar Allan Poe for a child because of the simplicity of the language, but I would recommend the original text to everybody else. There is something in Poe's words and narrative style that gets lost when you simplify the text.

[F · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection contains five Poe short stories and I loved every single one of them. He's a wonderful author, writes in such a vivid tone, and really manages to incite shivers all over your body.

The master of gothic horror does it again.

[Cari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to re-read these tales again.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good! It had several real spooky stories

[Slow Man · Rating 3 out of 5]

atmospheric. my first taste of Poe.