School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-Grimly's deliciously malevolent illustrations are the perfect complement to Poe's macabre stories. Four of the writer's most popular tales are presented in an abridged format: "The Black Cat," "The Masque of the Red Death," "Hop-Frog," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." The watercolor and pen-and-ink artwork is populated with deftly drawn cartoon humans, animals, and other beings, many with grotesque or sinister expressions. The pictures cover, crisscross, or circle the margins of the pages and are often contained in ornate art-deco frames along with small blocks of text. Libraries needing an additional copy of Poe's writings should consider this one.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2004)

Starred Review Archetypal horror writer Poe has received a variety of graphically enhanced treatments in recent years, including a volume in Eureka Productions' Rosebud Graphic Classics series (2001) and Jonathan Scott Fuqua's In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe (DC Comics, 2002). This exceptionally well-produced collection of four tales will, perhaps, reach a wider audience. The gently abridged retellings are in Poe's original language, and Grimly's wonderfully ghastly, full-color spot and full-page art splendidly depicts the mayhem that leads to murder in The Black Cat, the partying in the The Masque of the Red Death, the vicious genius of Hop-Frog, and the dual connotations of The Fall of the House of Usher. In addition to varied sizes and presentation of images, Grimly uses different typefaces to set off aspects of the narratives, which flow across the pages in the traditional manner rather than appearing in comics-style panels. With high-production values and gothic sensibilities thoroughly reflected in both text and art, this is an essential purchase for libraries. Adults can use it to lead young people to some great literature; readers will pluck it off the shelves themselves for creepy, entertaining fun.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Gris Grimly applies his wicked pen to four of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness: """"The Black Cat,"""" """"The Masque of the Red Death,"""" """"Hop-Frog"""" and """"The Fall of the House of Usher."""" The morbid and fearsome text makes an ideal match for Grimly's gothic aesthetic. His artwork runs the gamut from a comic book-like progression of the search for the black cat to a medical textbook-style visual analysis of Roderick Usher. (Sept.) .

Horn Book (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

"The Black Cat," "The Masque of the Red Death," "Hop-Frog," and "The Fall of the House of Usher" are lavishly illustrated in horror-comics style. There's great stylistic variety in Grimly's macabre work--which includes full-page tableaux, framed panels, and spot art--but Poe purists will not be happy that their boy's stories have all been abridged.