Nostalgia Reader > Recent Status Updates

The Sphinx: 2 stars. That was.... very stupid. I was sort of already spoiled for the end (even then, it still was just super apparent what was happening throughout the story), and it just... wasn't.

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar: 5 stars (reread). Not nearly as shockingly disgusting as the first read through was, but still a horrifying concept!

The Black Cat: 4 stars (reread; down 0.5 star) Still remains sooooo messed uppp. Also, this just confirms my theory that Dostoevsky was a Poe fan.

The Samovar and its inhabitants and guests are simply the greatest thing ever <3

The Masque of the Red Death: 4 stars (reread). Just.... *gestures broadly at everything*.

The System of Doctor. Tarr and Professor Fether: 4 stars (reread). Poe writes naïve narrators so welllllll. My brain summed it up this read through as "Poe writes a Monty Python sketch parodying the Mad Hatter's Tea Party." Much absurd, most excellent.

The Pit and the Pendulum: 4 stars (reread) And thus we begin the reliably horrifying rereads for Spooky Time! This is so good in terms of psychological terror, as well as the ambiguity of the ending. The walls closing in certainly could have been a hallucination, but I have never believed there was a sudden saving grace... Poe does like having deceased people as narrators!

"Thou Art The Man": 5 stars. ANOTHER NEW FAVORITE xD Very much some Monte Cristo vibes throughout the whole thing. A perfect mashup of all of Poe's styles--detective, horror, suspense, satire, it's all here and, while overly predictable, immensely fun to read.

The Purloined Letter: 2 stars (reread; down 1 star). I payed much more attention to the reasoning and overall story this time around, and while I makes much more sense than the last time, I'm lowering my rating because it's just so OBVIOUS. Dupin is trying to be overly clever and logical about hiding in plain sight and it's just... so mediocre.

The Premature Burial: 3.5 stars. More interesting for its selected history of inhumation than for its actual plot/story, but it was still very well done. Of course I imagine this was quite the terrifying story back in the day compared to now. I loved the final message though of having to face your paralyzing fears in order to live your life... always terrifyingly difficult to do!

A Tale of the Ragged Mountains: 3 stars. Not much to say about this one. It was an interesting take on mesmerism and the strong connection between the mesmer and the mesmerized... a precursor to Valdemar although more tame than that one.

The Oblong Box: 4 stars. I'd never read this one before, nor read any synopses, but it was quite obvious where it was going. However the exact identities of who was who were a bit of mystery till the end, and the overall vibe of the story was excellent. Poe's painfully naïve characters are some of the best narrators, I love them for their stupidity.

The Gold Bug: 5 stars (reread). It's just so FUN. Much less mysterious on a reread, of course, but the execution and explanation of the treasure hunt is excellent, and despite the story's length, it doesn't drag on like many of Poe's earlier lengthy stories do. Also, Wolf!!! Wolf needed more page time.

The Tell-Tale Heart: 4 stars. (reread; up 1 star) I still think this is an over-rated story, but every time I reread it, it gets more and more accurate and relatable in terms of its description of mental illness (apart from, you know, the murder part). Also, very much getting Dostoyevsky vibes from the narrator, I like it.

: 3 stars. Symbolism pervades in this one... Elenora easily could have been a forest nymph seeing how the Edenistic garden dies away with her. Poe also has an extreme fear of the silence of death (see, Silence--A Fable). the ending was super anticlimactic and contradictory to the whole theme of the story.

Never Be the Devil Your Head: 4.5 stars. OH BOY another favorite! (these new favorites have a concerning theme to them...) Fairly obvious where it was going in general, but that ending was EXCELLENT, omg.

A Descent in the Maelstrom: 1.5 stars (reread; down 1.5 stars). WOW that was tedious, with very little suspense or horror. I imagine it might have been more terrifying at the time, when sea travel and sea-based jobs were even more common, but still. BOOOORRRING.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue: 3.5 stars (reread). Once you know the twist, rereading is relatively boring, since there is no mystery for YOU to solve. Rather, Dupin spells it all out for you. I have never bought the nail and spring angle. It's too convenient and while I understand the supposed satire towards the Paris police, I don't buy it would have been looked over. Still, better than some Holmes shorts!

William Wilson: 2 stars (reread; up 1 star). I think I paid more attention to this story on this read and appreciated it more, so I gave it a better rating. However, it remains SUCH a slow story, with an obviousness of plot more akin to Poe's earliest stories. The ending, like most Poe endings, is EXCELLENT, but again like most Poe endings, is where the brunt of the purpose of the story lies.

The Fall of the House of Usher: 4 stars (reread). A dependably enjoyable read, and one that I always find new little bits of foreshadowing or scenery that I didn't find before.