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Manga Classics: Stories of Edgar Allan Poe: (Paperback) (10)
The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe is a brilliant collection of some of his best-known 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 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.
308 pages, Paperback
Published June 8, 2021
7 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,796 books28.7k 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 35 reviews
July 15, 2024
"For it was not the old man who vexed me, but his evil eye."
Don't think Poe and manga mesh well together. Thought it would add to the incredible tales of horror but it took the eeriness out of the tales. This classic compilation just didn't work for me.
Don't think Poe and manga mesh well together. Thought it would add to the incredible tales of horror but it took the eeriness out of the tales. This classic compilation just didn't work for me.
July 8, 2021
Okay, I loved this one! The graphics especially are SUPER cool, and I'm in awe! Every story has its own graphic style, and it's just brilliant. I'm all for colored graphics but this is one of the few ones that's just amazing with black and white. I loved it. As for the stories, they are told brilliantly too, accompanied so well with the graphics, and dare I say these graphics added so much to these classic stories. Absolutely do not miss out on this one if you are a fan of Poe! Very much recommended.
Thanks so much to Netgalley, and publishers for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
Thanks so much to Netgalley, and publishers for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
January 18, 2025
Really great adaptation of the works of Edgar Allan Poe in mangas. The drawings kept the spookinest the stories!
June 4, 2025
literally just his works word for word. the illustrations are so good and it's such a good adaptation. unfortunately, it IS word for word and I can't read old english 😅 perfect adaptation in that sense tho
September 7, 2021
So this one is comprised by a few of the best well known stories from Edgar Allan Poe, that was pretty nice actually, some are easier to remember than others and some of this were actually my favorites from him.
as for the Illustration on this one, it was masterful and it was so awesome to see them like this, The Raven was awesome, I did loved to see it in this style.
One other favorite was The death of Red Mask, it was awesome to see all the scenes of the ball so vividly, love it.
It's a beautiful compilation of stories with intrigue, death and sorrow.
as for the Illustration on this one, it was masterful and it was so awesome to see them like this, The Raven was awesome, I did loved to see it in this style.
One other favorite was The death of Red Mask, it was awesome to see all the scenes of the ball so vividly, love it.
It's a beautiful compilation of stories with intrigue, death and sorrow.
April 18, 2022
3.5 stars--This is a very cool idea to engage a wider audience with the works of Poe. Unlike some other adapted series, the illustrations are genuinely good and the text stays true to the source material.
May 9, 2024
I read all these stories as a child, but reading them in Manga format really put a unique spin on them. The Raven is particularly powerful in this medium. This adaptation uses Poe's original text, just adding in pictures. Atmospheric and fun!
September 26, 2024
My top favorite was The Masque of the Red Death.
November 2, 2021
-1 star for not including Annabel Lee :/
this manga was so perfect! it was an extremely clever way to retell Poe’s works. i loved the artwork so much, and it gave his stories an extra layer that wasn’t there before. 10/10 would recommend.
shoutout to the narrator from the raven in this manga 🤲 spare hand in marriage, sir?
this manga was so perfect! it was an extremely clever way to retell Poe’s works. i loved the artwork so much, and it gave his stories an extra layer that wasn’t there before. 10/10 would recommend.
shoutout to the narrator from the raven in this manga 🤲 spare hand in marriage, sir?
June 11, 2023
Much like A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Manga Classics' Stories of Edgar Allan Poe is beautifully put together. However, my reactions to Edgar Allan Poe's stories ranged from delightful, wicked chills to just plain utter confusion. I would highly recommend this lovely version of Edgar Allan Poe's work. Much of his tales are still beautiful examples of what gothic fiction is about.
May 25, 2022
The anthology starts out with “The Tell-Tale Heart”, perhaps Poe’s most famous short story. The recounting of the incidents to an unnamed interlocutor is a popular device in storytelling. We the reader are brought into the tale, forced intimately within the confines of a lunatic’s mind, as he recites with excruciating detail how he plotted the death of the unnamed old man. The teller is in bed with someone—a doctor? a psychiatrist?—by his patient's bedside, earnestly and silently scribbling the madman's steely account of his plotting, the mania that inspired it, the grisly deed and its aftermath.
The most familiar drawing style to manga readers would be the typical one used in “The Masque of the Red Death”. Male and female characters have smooth skin, mainly free of blemish, are uniformly pretty and with the L-shaped noses common to the type.
But the artist has filled the pages with a wealth of extraneous detail. Costumes are richly decorated, masks are varied (and yet simple), throne is stately, curtains abound and a tall clock regularly bongs out the hour with ominous portent. The appearance of the titular shrouded figure is presented in a two-page spread that is a marvel of perspective: the draped unseen face is on a direct diagonal with the profile of the outraged Prince Prospero.
More familiar stories follow, each in a distinctive style, yet all capturing the creations of Poe’s fevered imagination. Perhaps the most evocative is the final tale, as we witness the end of an inbred family: a pair of twins who suffer from a strange malady. While Roderick’s gloomy mien lends itself to fevered activity like painting, playing on his lute, composing strange music and song, his sister Madeline—who remains a wordless figure—sinks into a steady torpor that culminates in her death—or does it?
The artists for this story have brought the figurative to aching life, with shadows that behave bizarrely, a clock implanted on a man’s face to startling effect, a house whose very frame seems to mimic a diseased and wasting human form.
The Usher house gives the impression of antiquity. But there are no fallen masonry, no crumbling frames, no broken windows. Instead, there is a branching crack that wreathes the house from top to bottom like a monstrous ivy vine, trees bereft of leaves whose branches bend towards the house itself and blank oversized windows that stare like dead eyes. The connection between the House of Usher and the last of its moribund lineage goes from the implicit to the explicit as Madeline and her brother fall together, dead, to the floor.
Within these pages, Poe’s works have found splendid artists to revive his literary visions. It’s one of the best introductions to his writings that I could have imagined. Horror aficionados will find it a creepy delight.
The most familiar drawing style to manga readers would be the typical one used in “The Masque of the Red Death”. Male and female characters have smooth skin, mainly free of blemish, are uniformly pretty and with the L-shaped noses common to the type.
But the artist has filled the pages with a wealth of extraneous detail. Costumes are richly decorated, masks are varied (and yet simple), throne is stately, curtains abound and a tall clock regularly bongs out the hour with ominous portent. The appearance of the titular shrouded figure is presented in a two-page spread that is a marvel of perspective: the draped unseen face is on a direct diagonal with the profile of the outraged Prince Prospero.
More familiar stories follow, each in a distinctive style, yet all capturing the creations of Poe’s fevered imagination. Perhaps the most evocative is the final tale, as we witness the end of an inbred family: a pair of twins who suffer from a strange malady. While Roderick’s gloomy mien lends itself to fevered activity like painting, playing on his lute, composing strange music and song, his sister Madeline—who remains a wordless figure—sinks into a steady torpor that culminates in her death—or does it?
The artists for this story have brought the figurative to aching life, with shadows that behave bizarrely, a clock implanted on a man’s face to startling effect, a house whose very frame seems to mimic a diseased and wasting human form.
The Usher house gives the impression of antiquity. But there are no fallen masonry, no crumbling frames, no broken windows. Instead, there is a branching crack that wreathes the house from top to bottom like a monstrous ivy vine, trees bereft of leaves whose branches bend towards the house itself and blank oversized windows that stare like dead eyes. The connection between the House of Usher and the last of its moribund lineage goes from the implicit to the explicit as Madeline and her brother fall together, dead, to the floor.
Within these pages, Poe’s works have found splendid artists to revive his literary visions. It’s one of the best introductions to his writings that I could have imagined. Horror aficionados will find it a creepy delight.
December 17, 2022
#15 -- A graphic novel adaptation of a novel originally published as a prose
Title: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Story Adaptation: Stacy King
Artist: Virginia-Nitouhei, Chagen, Pikomaro, Uka Nagao, Linus Liu
Publisher: Manga Classics Inc.
Pages: 307
Year of Publication / Release: 2017
Oh boy.
Aside from reading "The Raven" in school, I had not wanted to revisit Edgar Allan Poe. That poem had left me with three big ??? spinning inside of my head like three leftover matches in a match box. But now, over a decade later, I wanted to give his other works a chance. In MANGA form!!!
There were five stories within this book and therefore, I decided to give a star to those I liked. However, the artwork is superb on each and every page, therefore, I had to give a star simply for that reason. The stories included are:
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Cask of Amontillado
The Masque of the Red Death
The Raven
The Fall of the House of Usher
And in that order, I liked the first three.
The Raven is just as confusing a story as ever, even with the artwork to help give it a narrative boost and The Fall of the House of Usher was so long, the ending was barely worth it. I almost felt as if I had been reading the infamous Chapter 11 of Dorian Gray where nothing really happens and you're left wondering how much time had actually past and what was actually said and done.
That being said, I am in no hurry to add this to my collection, even though the artwork was amazing and most of the stories held my attention. I am sure readers of lengthy obscure plots, internal struggles, unsolved mysteries, and a likeness for the macabre would enjoy this :)
Title: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Story Adaptation: Stacy King
Artist: Virginia-Nitouhei, Chagen, Pikomaro, Uka Nagao, Linus Liu
Publisher: Manga Classics Inc.
Pages: 307
Year of Publication / Release: 2017
Oh boy.
Aside from reading "The Raven" in school, I had not wanted to revisit Edgar Allan Poe. That poem had left me with three big ??? spinning inside of my head like three leftover matches in a match box. But now, over a decade later, I wanted to give his other works a chance. In MANGA form!!!
There were five stories within this book and therefore, I decided to give a star to those I liked. However, the artwork is superb on each and every page, therefore, I had to give a star simply for that reason. The stories included are:
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Cask of Amontillado
The Masque of the Red Death
The Raven
The Fall of the House of Usher
And in that order, I liked the first three.
The Raven is just as confusing a story as ever, even with the artwork to help give it a narrative boost and The Fall of the House of Usher was so long, the ending was barely worth it. I almost felt as if I had been reading the infamous Chapter 11 of Dorian Gray where nothing really happens and you're left wondering how much time had actually past and what was actually said and done.
That being said, I am in no hurry to add this to my collection, even though the artwork was amazing and most of the stories held my attention. I am sure readers of lengthy obscure plots, internal struggles, unsolved mysteries, and a likeness for the macabre would enjoy this :)
October 10, 2024
This volume has four stories and one poem, all by Edgar Allan Poe. Each one was illustrated by a different artist, but all were adapted by Stacy King. Here's what I thought about each segment:
"The Tell-Tale Heart," art by Virginia-Nitouhei -- this one was appropriately weird, and I liked how some of the angles of the artwork made me think of film noir.
"The Cask of Amontillado," art by Chagen -- I love this short story, but I feel like this retelling could have been a bit cooler and darker. Maybe it just paled in comparison to the excellent weirdness of the previous piece.
"The Raven," art by pikomaro -- Really, really, really well done. This has the full text of the original poem and brings it to live with wonderful vividness.
"The Masque of the Red Death," art by Uka Nagao -- another favorite short story of mine, and I think they brought this one to life quite well.
"The Fall of the House of Usher," art by Linus Liu -- never been a favorite of mine, and I feel like this retelling rushed things a little bit, at the expense of the suspense.
Overall, this was super enjoyable, and not as gruesome as I feared it might be. Definitely less scary than the stroll we took through the Halloween costume section of Party City yesterday :-b
"The Tell-Tale Heart," art by Virginia-Nitouhei -- this one was appropriately weird, and I liked how some of the angles of the artwork made me think of film noir.
"The Cask of Amontillado," art by Chagen -- I love this short story, but I feel like this retelling could have been a bit cooler and darker. Maybe it just paled in comparison to the excellent weirdness of the previous piece.
"The Raven," art by pikomaro -- Really, really, really well done. This has the full text of the original poem and brings it to live with wonderful vividness.
"The Masque of the Red Death," art by Uka Nagao -- another favorite short story of mine, and I think they brought this one to life quite well.
"The Fall of the House of Usher," art by Linus Liu -- never been a favorite of mine, and I feel like this retelling rushed things a little bit, at the expense of the suspense.
Overall, this was super enjoyable, and not as gruesome as I feared it might be. Definitely less scary than the stroll we took through the Halloween costume section of Party City yesterday :-b
November 3, 2023
This was a wonderful collection of some of the most well-known stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Some of the stories I was familiar with and others I read for the first time. The stories were told in a way that kept the best parts but made them accessible. They definitely stayed true to the source material. I truly enjoyed reading them! Even abbreviated in this format, the essence of the stories is there. The same spooky tone is kept and really pulled me in! The art is beautiful! The way these were drawn really enhanced the reading experience. I truly adored the artwork. This is a great way to introduce people to the classics who haven’t read them and for fans to experience the stories in a whole new way. This is a great example of gothic fiction! I definitely recommend this!
Read through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Read through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
March 14, 2022
Esta adaptacion no me ha gustado tanto como las anteriores he de decir que me han interaso el 1 y 3 relato los otros, no los conocia ni me gustaron siquiera.
El de la muerte roja se me hizo medio interesante pero es como si el principio fuera una cosa lo de en medio otra y lo del final otra. Como ideas separadas quiza habria funcionado pero me parecio muy meh.
el 2, el barril de amontillado me parece un refrito del corazon delator, alguien muerto emparedado y ya.
y por ultimo el de la caida de la casa usher, solo me aburrio.
El del cuervo y el corazon delator son los mejores, aun asi los demas no me gustaron absolutamente nada.
El de la muerte roja se me hizo medio interesante pero es como si el principio fuera una cosa lo de en medio otra y lo del final otra. Como ideas separadas quiza habria funcionado pero me parecio muy meh.
el 2, el barril de amontillado me parece un refrito del corazon delator, alguien muerto emparedado y ya.
y por ultimo el de la caida de la casa usher, solo me aburrio.
El del cuervo y el corazon delator son los mejores, aun asi los demas no me gustaron absolutamente nada.
May 20, 2022
4 ⭐
I was already somewhat familiar with a few of Poe's works during English class in Highschool but this was such a beautiful reading experience. I'm just beginning to really enjoy Manga as a genre by itself but it sticks to the orginal work flawlessly. I really liked this and will probably buy a physical edition it was stunning.
I was already somewhat familiar with a few of Poe's works during English class in Highschool but this was such a beautiful reading experience. I'm just beginning to really enjoy Manga as a genre by itself but it sticks to the orginal work flawlessly. I really liked this and will probably buy a physical edition it was stunning.
August 26, 2022
While the art of this manga adaptation was very nice and detailed, I feel like the interpretation of some of Edgar Allan Poe's stories could have been presented better. It was a great version in some ways, but there were some pit falls for me. I would, however, recommend this to young adults or high school kids learning about his stories and poems to make it easier for some to understand better.
May 7, 2025
I really wanted to enjoy this, but I struggled to stay engaged. Especially with the final poem, which completely lost my interest. The illustrations were genuinely impressive and well done, but I’ve realized that poems just aren’t for me. I hate to give this 2 stars, but overall, it didn’t capture me the way I hoped it would.
September 12, 2021
A collection of five horror short stories by Edgar Allan Poem, in manga:
1. The Tell-Tale Heart
2. The Cask of Amontillado
3. The Masque of the Red Death
4. The Raven
5. The Fall of the House of Usher
I loved 1 and 4 best, but the art is marvellous throughout.
1. The Tell-Tale Heart
2. The Cask of Amontillado
3. The Masque of the Red Death
4. The Raven
5. The Fall of the House of Usher
I loved 1 and 4 best, but the art is marvellous throughout.
November 30, 2021
I got this as a digital ARC from NetGalley back in 2017, but never got around to reviewing it. As illustrated editions of Poe go, this was wonderful! The art was beautiful and matched the mood in the writing throughout.
July 26, 2022
I read this as an eARC (even though this book has been published for years...) and enjoyed my experience as a newbie to manga. [I have several of these that I have read within a few days of each other so I will not vary my review from those.]
March 10, 2025
Dark and dreary, the short stories are told in manga format. The graphics help tell Poe's short stories, giving the reader insight into his melancholy nature. A great way to get the younger generation reading these classic stories.
June 2, 2021
Always love a good Edgar Allan Poe story and with the illustrations was a perfect match.
October 7, 2021
I’ve read and reread most of these stories so many times. The manga adaptation is fabulous. If you’re looking for a macabre melodrama, look no further.
October 9, 2021
Ravens who cry "Nevermore", Hearts that beat for justice, and more tales of murder and gore by Edgar Allen Poe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2021
only the first story was good.
December 5, 2021
A great way to revisit Poe. I loved the art for The Raven. It's fascinating to see how someone else visualizes Poe's stories.
March 3, 2023
The illustrations enhanced the stories.
July 4, 2024
art style was cute was my favorite out of all the adaptations
March 5, 2025
Need more poe told in manga form. A great way to relive the stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews