The Masque of the Red Death

The owner of the Italian restaurant across the street from the Pandemonium Art Gallery, which displays some of my artwork, is holding an Edgar Allan Poe-themed art auction on October 17th, and asked Jane at the gallery if any of her artists wanted to make something for the auction; he specifically asked after me, because he liked “The Fate of Centeotl.”

I knew that artist submissions would mostly zero in on the first-string Poe standards: “The Raven,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” and “Murders in the Rue Morgue.”  I downloaded all five volume of the collected works (ebooks and public domain are a match made in heaven), and waded through the man’s output — I’m on Volume 5 right now.  Two things I learned:

• Although Poe is best known these days as a writer of the macabre, more than half his published output was parodies, satires, and other humorous essays which have not aged well.
• There really aren’t any “hidden gems” to be had —  the best-known of Poe’s work is also the best of Poe’s work.

Despite wanting to draw inspiration from a lesser-known story, then, I found myself drawn to the imagery of “The Masque of the Red Death.”  Skulls, clocks… who could ask for anything more?

(Note: For some reason, these shots from the camera looked like they were taken with my phone. I corrected them a bit in PhotoShop, but…) And yes, I owe Michele a replacement spice cabinet.