Edgar Allan Poe's story of the Red Death

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Iseult Gillespie |

TED-Ed

• May 2026

Looking to avoid the plague devastating his country, Prince Prospero summons a thousand nobles from his court and sequesters them in his abbey. Months into their seclusion, the Prince throws a lavish masquerade ball held in seven colored rooms. But amidst the revelry, a mysterious shrouded figure appears. Iseult Gillespie shares Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story, “The Masque of the Red Death.” [Directed by Mohammad Babakoohi, Yijia Cao, narrated by Adrian Dannatt, music by Aron Fard].