The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe: Manga Classics

Edgar Allan Poe is rightly regarded as a master in the arts of the dramatic, suspense, and horror. This collection shows Poe at the peak of his abilities with his best-known poem, “The Raven,” and four short stories. It’s easy to understand why audiences continue to be enthralled; these stories deal with macabre themes of justice and derangement. The Cask of Amontillado, especially, will linger creepily in the mind of the reader for its tale of a man who believes death is suitable punishment for a perceived slight. With all of these stories, Poe’s masterful use of implicit ideas and suspenseful atmosphere envelop the reader with a sense of mounting terror that is hard to shake.

The text is mostly taken directly from Poe, which preserves his wordcraft and lends an authentic atmosphere. Each story has a different illustrator, and each has done a superb job in illustrating their story; these illustrations are the best of the Manga Classics series. The visual medium of the manga does reduce some of the mystery of the originals, but this is made up for by the excellent pacing from the combination of the evocative prose and the beauty and detail of the images.