All Hallows Read Readalong The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe (Amber, Denise ,Tracey, Charbel, Faye, Pam, Katy and anyone else who wants to join) Oct 20-31

[Amber]

3 days to go, yay! so have you guys ever read poe before? I was just curious. This is my first Poe collection of stories I've ever read.

[Charbel]

This is my first. Always wanted to read something by him, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so!

[Amber]

We start tomorrow, Yay! I'll see you all here then. ^_^

[Amber]

Hello everyone! Welcome to our All Hallow's Read Edgar Allan Poe readalong. I am Amber and I will be your hostess here for this Halloween event we are starting today through Halloween. I am going to be starting the collection later on today, but skimmed over the introduction section and it told of how Poe's work was successful in Europe and that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said that Poe's detective Dupin in the story "Murders in the Rue Morgue" which we will be reading in this readalong inspired him for Sherlock Holmes which I thought was wild. The first story in the collection is the Balloon Hoax which is more of an adventure/science fiction story than horror. I don't think we'll be getting into those until after that one. The introduction also said that a lot of his stories had nautical themes in them or mentioned the ocean. Btw, his Novella, A Narrative of A. Gordon Pym is also a nautical adventure so if we have time during the readalong, we'll read and discuss it. If not, this is one you guys can read on your own. I hope you enjoyed this background information and I'll be back later to discuss The Balloon Hoax and then we'll go from there. See you guys later and have a great day! :)

[Gill]

Amber, I'm not joining in this read but, just to say, have a lot of fun!

[Amber]

Thanks Gill, we will! If you have read the stories before, feel free to discuss them with us as we go along though.

[Faye]

My library seems to have lost its Complete Collection of Poe's works, and the short stories collection I managed to get my hands on doesn't have The Balloon Hoax. So I'll just join in whenever I can. :)

[Katy]

I'm going to the gym and will start it when I return. Since it is Sunday and I'm watching football, it's worth pointing out that Baltimore named its team the Ravens in honor of mr. Poe

[Amber]

Okay that's fine Faye. Come in when you can! The readalong is through Halloween and you can find the stories we are reading through project Gutenberg online. I'm sorry your library lost its complete collection of Poe books too. :( Sad face. Awesome, Katy! Have fun watching Football and seeing the Ravens play. They'll make that other team yell "Nevermore!" LOL. I'm starting on the collection after Once Upon a time comes on. I love that show. Have fun at the gym too.

[Amber]

Hey Charbel, Pam, Denise, and Tracey, Are you guys ready for the readalong and have the book on hand to start? was just curious. We start with the Balloon hoax later on. :)

[Amber]

This link has all of Poe's stories too: http://www.poestories.com/stories.php

[Amber]

The only story not on the Poe stories website is the Narrative of A. Gordon Pym which you can read here. http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/47/the-narr... . I have it in my collection so if we have time we will read and discuss it. If not, you guys can read it on your own since that story is longer than the short stories.

[Amber]

So I just got through reading the Balloon hoax which is the first story in this Poe collection and it was a pretty good and interesting piece by Poe. They had considered this story relevant news back in the 1800's and I was astonished at Poe's concept and wit in a serious piece about hot air balloon travel. I know that we use helium for the balloons nowadays but it makes me wonder if it would've worked with the resources used in the tale of coal gas and hydrogen. The story makes you think about it. A great tale to start off our readalong. Let me know your thoughts on the balloon hoax. Next up is Ms. In a bottle.

[Katy]

This was much different than I thought it would be. It felt like a sensational news story. Was he making a comment on journalism of his day? If so, this story is quite relevant today.

Amber: Are we reading a story a day?

[Amber]

Well, I started with the balloon hoax last night katy. I read ms. In a bottle last night and will post my thoughts later but I thought we were going to discuss it as we go along. There are 14 stories in the collection but I only gave us 12 days to read and discuss them starting yesterday. I only read the first two last night but only did my thoughts on the first one. I was going to post my thoughts on ms. In a bottle today so I wonder if we need to discuss a few a day to get them into the readalong. The next stories after ms. In a bottle is a descent into the malestrom and murders in the rue morgue. Then we got the purloined letter, the black cat, the fall of the house of usher, pit and the pendulum, masque of the red death, the cask of amontillado, the assignation, tell-tale heart, diddling, and the man that was used up for the rest of the short stories. I think we could read the novel on our own because we only have 12 days to read and discuss the short stories. I read at night anyway so I posted my first story's thoughts last night. My fb readalong of this collection started last night too so we had posted our thoughts of the first one. If it'll help,we can read/discuss a few of the stories a day. This is my first time hosting/doing a readalong. So if u guys want we could read and discuss ms. In a bottle, a descent in the malestrom and murdersin the rue morgue tonight then go from there.

[Faye]

My library came through after all! I've got the complete works now, so I'll catch up as soon as I can. :)

(Also, Once Upon a Time rules!)

[Amber]

Awesome Faye! and okay, cool. we were only on the Balloon hoax yesterday and I was thinking of doing ms. in a bottle with a descent in the maelstrom and murders in the rue morgue to read and discuss tonight so I hope that is okay with everyone to do a few stories a day for the readalong.

[Amber]

So I thought Ms. In a bottle was a scary ocean tale. It was about this sailor dude who was marooned in the ocean after a shipwreck caused by a violent hurricane kills captain and crew. He eventually is rescused by creepy foreigners on another ship heading to the south pole. They don't make it because they plunge into a watery grave via whirlpool. I enjoyed this story and thought it was funny that he called the ship poop.i know he was saying the poop deck, but it was funny when he said " The windis still in our poop." Well, I'll come back after I read a descent into the malestrom and murders in the rue morgue and I'll post my thoughts of those two stories later tonight.

[Amber]

So I am still reading murders in the rue morgue so I'll post my thoughts on that story tomorrow. A descent into the malestrom was a terrifying tale though about two fishermen who face a horrible whirlpool off the norwegian coast. It was scary. I didn't know if that old man was going to survive or not but it was a great story by poe.

[Leslie]

Katy wrote: "I'm going to the gym and will start it when I return. Since it is Sunday and I'm watching football, it's worth pointing out that Baltimore named its team the Ravens in honor of mr. Poe"

Nice bit of trivia!

[Charbel]

I just finished the balloon hoax, and I am moving on to the next one.

[Katy]

Rough day today...I found MS in a bottle incredibly frightening. More classic Poe than the balloon hoax. It was creepy when he met the other ship. I also liked descent into the maelstrom. I thought his descriptions of nature were oddly beautiful. I have a couple of things going on this week. I may have to wait until the weekend to read more.

[Amber]

Okay that's fine Katy and awesome Charbel. I read murders in the rue morgue, the purloined letter, and the black cat last night but didn't get a chance to post my thoughts last night but can right now.

Murders in the Rue Morgue and the Purloined letter were both mysteries written by Poe starring Detective Dupin who inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes. In Murders of the Rue Morgue, Detective Dupin and colleague investigate a series of murders done in the Rue Morgue district by a wild orang outang that a sailor owned. It is wild that a primate committed murder after it tries to shave people with a razor. The Purloined letter was about a letter owned by a young lady stolen from her by minister D. The Prefect of the parisian police, G seeks Detective Dupin to help them recover the letter. The police tried and failed. Detective Dupin has to outsmart the minister to get the letter back by using a distraction. I enjoyed the mysteries. It was very intriguing.

The Black cat was about a man who loved animals. He even loved his black cat. It was only when he turned to alcoholism that he abused and eventually kills the poor animal. He even kills his wife. I enjoyed this tale of murder and madness that Poe wrote though. Btw, Jean wrote a review of murders in the rue morgue on her page. Definitely check it out. Next is fall of the house of usher, pit and the pendulum, and masque of the red death.

[Faye]

The Balloon Hoax - I found it very dry and way too technical. I'm surprised it would have been included in a short story collection.

MS in a Bottle - Very cool, creepy, and Poe-esque. I also laughed at the "wind in the poop" line, hahaha!

[Amber]

All I have thoughts for right now is for The Fall of the House of Usher. This story was pretty creepy because this old childhood friend of Roderick Usher who owns the House of Usher mansion is summoned via letter which they call Ms. ( or manuscript) in the story to come up and visit with him at his creepy house. Roderick Usher is depressed because his house is cursed and his sister madeline is gravely ill. It is only when a bad storm with a tornado comes by that you see how mad Roderick Usher really is and his house gets destroyed by the tornado. I liked the creepiness of this tale. I still got to read Pit and the Pendulum and Masque of the red Death so I'll be back in a while. Hope you guys enjoyed this one.

[Amber]

I just finished The Pit and the pendulum and it was a scary read about a man set to die in the inquisition by a scythe-like pendulum in a pit. I enjoyed reading this story but wondered why he would be saved at the last minute while he was attacked by rats and had a pendulum that would've cut him in half. Maybe Poe felt sorry for all the mental suffering he gave the character and wanted to give him a second chance. We'll never know though.

I also read The Masque of the Red Death. This was the first story that I had ever read by Poe when I was in middle school and it is still a favorite of mine. Prince Prospero throws a masquerade ball only to face the Red Death in disguise and falls to his doom. It is a very well-written and detailed piece with time playing an important role in this tale as the clock that makes everyone stop what they are doing. It was also there to remind them life is short. The Red Death that destroys Prince Prospero's kingdom as a plague crashes his party and destroys everyone in it.

[Faye]

Descent into the Maelstrom was cool. I liked the idea behind it, of someone surviving a whirlpool. Not entirely sure how accurate his method would be in reality, but then that really isn't the point of Poe's stories. As Katy said, his descriptions are beautiful, and his narrative is always such a creepifying pleasure to read.

Murders on the Rue Morgue was fantastic. I first read it a couple years ago and loved it. Clever twist!

[Denise]

I've been working as a temporary receptionist, and it is sooo boring. The silver lining is I read nearly the whole book yesterday, and finished up Fall of the House of Usher this morning. I think Usher was the only one I hadn't read before, and while I don't happen to think it's his very best, it was still classic, creepy Poe. Good stuff. (Any of you in the UK, Usher reminded me of Michael from Eastenders. lol)

[Denise]

By the way, Amber, you've done a great job of collecting information and the stories themselves. Thanks!

[Amber]

Thanks Denise! I got the information from the introduction of the book and tried my best summing up my thoughts on all the stories too. As this is my first poe ever, most of these stories were new to me except for the more classic though. I have never read tell-tale heart or cask of amontillado so they should be scary with the few short stories that are left. Of all that I have read so far, there are only 5 short stories to go in the book. I'm not sure if we should do a narrative of A. Gordon Pym or not. It's longer than the short stories and it is a novel. If you guys want to, we can. It's just our readalong ends in a few days on halloween and thought the short stories would be good but everyone can read that novel on their own. The last short stories though are cask of amontillado, the assignation, tell-tale heart, diddling, and the man that was used up. I'm just going to do the cask of amontillado today.

[Faye]

The Purloined Letter - You can really see the Sherlock influence in this one, even moreso than in the other Dupin stories, in my opinion. All you need to do is change the names to Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade, and the setting to London! I love its simplicity, especially since simplicity is the topic most discussed in the story itself. It's one of my favourites of Poe's, and I enjoyed reading it again.

It also has one of my favourite Poe quotes ever -

"That is another of your odd notions," said the Prefect, who had the fashion of calling everything "odd" that was beyond his comprehension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of "oddities."

Hahahaha! I think that's the best way of saying "not the brightest bulb" that I've ever heard. ;)

[Faye]

Amber wrote: "I'm not sure if we should do a narrative of A. Gordon Pym or not. It's longer than the short stories and it is a novel. If you guys want to, we can."

The others are all so short that I don't see why it would be difficult to fit Pym in as well. We could devote the last 3 or so days of the month to it. :)

[Amber]

Okay awesome!Great idea, Faye. If its okay with you guys, after we finish the short stories, we can do Pym up through Halloween. Just let me know. ^_^ I'll be back to discuss my thoughts on the Cask of Amontillado tonight!

[Katy]

I think that is a good idea too. I'm hoping that my schedule slows down over the weekend and next week so I can catch up.

Thanks for hosting this Amber

[Amber]

No problem at all Katy. I just wanted to do something fun for Halloween anyway and I've never read any Poe before so I got a collection for Christmas and waited to do it for All Hallow's read. It is fun though and I hope I am doing a good job hosting this readalong since it is my first. I'll be doing another one in December with the book club for City of Bones so I hope to do well with that one too.

[Amber]

So the cask of amontillado was a terrifying tale of revenge. A man takes revenge on a conniseur of wines named Fortunato where he is sealed alive in the walls of the catacombs. I liked the story but felt sorry for the drunkard.

[Katy]

I didn't have much time tonight so I skipped ahead and read Black Cat. I have two black cats myself so this story was particularly disturbing. I like Faye's description of his pacing as creepifying pleasure. Sleep well...if you can!

[Denise]

Although it isn't in this set of stories, my absolute favorite Poe story is "Hop Frog" (also known as eight-chained-orangutangs.) To me, it is THE most horrifying. If you get the chance, it is worth reading.

[Amber]

Okay awesome denise! I think it is on poestories.com but I'll check it out later but thanks for the reccomendation. :-)

[Charbel]

I'll be starting tell-tale heart, can't wait!

[Amber]

Awesome Charbel. I'll be reading the Assignation tonight so will post my thoughts later and will read tell-tale heart on Saturday. :-)

[Tracey]

Yiphee it's arrived read MS. Found in a bottle and my beloved The Raven

[Faye]

The Black Cat - This one disturbs me on so many levels. It's extremely well written, and I love the creepy justice at the end, but to think of someone treating an animal that way... *shudder* To answer the character's question, no, I would never do something that "perverse" simply because I know I shouldn't do it. Like, seriously?

The Fall of the House of Usher - Love this one. Thoroughly creepy in the best possible ways.

[[deleted user]]

I'm late to the party but plan on reading this over the weekend. The collection I have for kindle has about 30 stories so I need to work out which are in your edition. Is this order correct?

The Balloon-Hoax
Ms. Found in a Bottle
A Descent into the Maelstrom
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Purloined Letter
The Black Cat
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Masque of the Red Death
The Cask of Amontillado
The Assignation
The Tell-Tale Heart
Diddling
The Man That was Used Up
Narrative of A. Gordon Pym

[Amber]

Yes, heather this reading order is correct. I hope you enjoy these stories and will discuss what you thought of them with us when you read them. :-) I'm going to read then discuss my thoughts on the assignation tonight then read/discuss tell-tale heart tomorrow, diddling on Sunday and the man that was used up on Monday. We were going to devote the last three days to a narrative of A. Gordon pym and the poe party is still going on. Yay, Tracey! Glad u could join us. Hugs! :-)

[Tracey]

Glad to be here in whatever guise I am in just now :)

[Faye]

The Pit and the Pendulum - Cool Inquisition story! I'd never read it before. Quite disturbing!

The Masque of the Red Death - Super creepy. I love the imagery, and how neatly and succinctly he plays it out and then wraps it up. This is definitely one of his masterpieces.

[Amber]

Yes it is Faye and Masque of the Red Death is my favorite story by Poe. ^_^

[Amber]

So I read the Assignation and it was a pretty good tale about murder by poison set in a rich person's home in Venice, Italy after a mysterious man saves a baby from drowning. The story was narrated by a Venetian Gondolier. It said in the introduction that Poe was only 25 when he wrote this one. He was pretty young then! I'll be back to read and discuss Tell-tale heart tomorrow night. ^_^

[Charbel]

The Tell-Tale Heart is so far my favourite. The Masque of the Red Death was chillingly good, and I found The Black Cat incredibly disturbing because I'm an animal lover!