<Tr> <Th> Publication date </Th> <Td> May 1842 </Td> </Tr> <P> "The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy" (1842), is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe . The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey . He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball within seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color . In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms . Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn . </P> <P> Poe's story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading . Many different interpretations have been presented, as well as attempts to identify the true nature of the titular disease . The story was first published in May 1842 in Graham's Magazine and has since been adapted in many different forms, including a 1964 film starring Vincent Price . Additionally, it has been alluded to by other works in many types of media . </P> <P> The story takes place at the castellated abbey of the "happy and dauntless and sagacious" Prince Prospero . Prospero and 1,000 other nobles have taken refuge in this walled abbey to escape the Red Death, a terrible plague with gruesome symptoms that has swept over the land . Victims are overcome by "sharp pains", "sudden dizziness", and hematidrosis, and die within half an hour . Prospero and his court are indifferent to the sufferings of the population at large; they intend to await the end of the plague in luxury and safety behind the walls of their secure refuge, having welded the doors shut . </P>

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