The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe is one of several entries in the Manga Classics series, which pairs text (usually taken word-for-word, I believe) from classic works with manga-style illustrations.

This didn't work out very well here. These works ("The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Cask of Amontillado,"The Raven," "The Masque of the Red Death," and "The Fall of the House of Usher") weren't written to act as graphic novel scripts, and shoe-horning them into that role resulted in "adaptations" that were mediocre at best.

The artwork was generally decent - my favorites were probably "The Tell-Tale Heart" (art by Virginia-Nitouhei) and "The Fall of the House of Usher" (art by Linus Liu). "The Masque of the Red Death" (art by Uka Nagao) would probably have been another favorite of mine if it had been in color - the stained glass windows practically begged for it.

All in all, I felt that this did Poe's works a disservice by trying to include too much of the original text - if you're going to adapt something into graphic novel form, you have to be willing to recognize that, at times, it's best to leave out some text and trust the artwork to do the talking.

Extras:

Full-color cover images for each of the stories, some sketches, and additional information about Poe and a few of the stories.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

I admit to not being in the target audience for Manga (grandkids are, though), but I love Poe in any form or type of imaginative presentation. Nothing like true classic horror! According to several young folks this presentation is very much the thing and they got this granny to buy and gift them as soon as they had read major parts on my laptop when they were visiting.
The book is atmospherically illustrated in simple line drawings that still manage to convey the appropriate atmosphere.
I requested and received a temporary electronic copy on Adobe Digital Editions from UDON Entertainment via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

Manga adaptations of classic works is one of my favourite things in the book universe. Being able to see a story in a different way is always such a great experience.

I love Edgar Allan Poe, so I figured this was an excellent choice for me. I would highly recommend educators picking up books like these and give them to their students. Having an option to see the story as well as pick them apart would be a great way to learn!

This book includes a little bio of Edgar, who is quite the interesting soul if you didn't know about him. His spooky tales seemed to be inspired by his tragic life. There's also more than a few classics scattered throughout this anthology of manga/stories: The Raven, The Tell Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Mask of the Red Death

The pictures are haunting (in a good way). The black and white colour scheme fits well with Poe's tales. They are dark, spooky and weird. The style fits really well, which is just an added bonus to seeing the story.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for providing me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. ( )

Edgar Allen Poe is one of my all time favorites. I love his writing and I believe this manga adaptation captures the essence of his stories beautifully. I loved the graphics and the story telling. I will definitely be purchasing a hard copy of this one to keep on my shelves.

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.* ( )