Customer Reviews

Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This 5 disk collection of Edgar Allen Poe's works is one of the best audio collections I have ever heard. Generally, I am a fan of the "radio play" style of spoken audio, with a full cast and appropriate sound effects. Yet, Poe's work (especially on the represented stories) tends to be from a single point of view, and largely take place in the mind of the main character. This first person style lends itself well to a single narrator. I could not imagine two better chosen narrators.

The heritage of radio shines in there performances. These are two actors who cut their teeth in radio, in shows such as "Suspence," "Inner Sanctum" and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." Voice acting is almost a lost art. It is amazing, the sheer richness that comes from hearing Poe's words manipulated by such talented voices.

Vincent Price, famous for his sinister voice, is a natural for Poe. He does fewer pieces, voicing "Ligeia," "The Imp of the Perverse," "Morella," "Berenice" and "The Gold Bug." All of them are well done, with "Ligeia" being a stand out.

Basil Rathbone does the lion's share of the CD set. As I was not as familiar with him, I was a little disappointed about this. Then I heard him speak. Wow. His voice is superb, and obviously highly-trained. I prefer him to Price on the recordings, and I am thankful that he voices my favorite pieces. He slips easily between prose and poetry, and has a voice full of both emotion and cold regard. Rathbone lends his tenor to "The Tell-Tale Heart," The Fall of the House of Usher," The Black Cat," "The Cask of Amontillado," The Masque of the Red Death," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Haunted Palace," "The Bells," "The Facts of the Case of M. Valdemar," "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," "Eldorado," "To--," "Alone" and "The City in the Sea."

Are there flaws to the set? Sure. The long tracks mean you have to listen to each story in one go. There are some abridgments, if you follow along with the books. However, the talent of the narrators combined with the respect for the words being spoken outweigh any flaws. This is a truly exceptional collection.

This review refers to the "Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection" 5 CD set(Harper Audio)...

Normally I listen to my audio books while working around the house, or driving in my car. This magnificent selection of some of Poe's best short stories and poems, read by Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price was so instense and all consuming, I wanted nothing else to draw my attention away. I didn't want to leave the room or pause the stereo even for a moment. These talented voices read Poe to you the way Poe should be heard.

The tales are bone chilling, spine tingling and heart pumping. Poe's works are dark and brillant and I can't imagine anyone better able to bring his literary genius to life then these two exquiste readers. I've read many of these works numerous times, but hearing them read aloud on these discs, brought new visions of Poe's words to my mind and sparked my imagination like never before.

Rathbone mesmerizies with his intense perfomances of:
To-
Alone
The City By The Sea
The Fall Of The House Of Usher
The Haunted Palce
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Masque of the Red Death
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Black Cat
The Raven
The Facts of the Case of M.Valdemar
The Cask of Amontillado
The Bells
Annabel Lee
Eldorado

Price, the master, will have you entranced with his oh so recognizable voice and eerie style as he reads to you:
Ligeia(this has always been my personal favorite of Poe's works and I was thrilled by Price's reading)
The Imp of the Perverse
Morella
Berenice
The Gold Bug.

This 5 CD set is nicely packaged and includes an insert with a list of the works included,the discs they are on, and the time they each run. The sound quality was excellent. Clear as a bell. I did have to turn it up several notches higher that I usually do, and at times Rathbone got so intense I had to turn it down a bit, but loved every single second! The individual discs range in total time from around 47 min. to 1 hour and 15 min.

Also recommended: Edgar Allan Poe Reader (Courage Classics) a fabulous collection of short stories as well as poetry in hardcover.

Poe, Price and Rathbone...It was meant to be...Laurie

The reviewers for this audio box set of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous works of fiction are absolutely right. There is perfection in this product. The talented Vincent Price and Basil Rathborne lend their voices to the narration of the classic tales of horror and suspense. This is an antique. It is valuable and very reminiscent of the old World War II days of radio-plays sponsored by soap companies. This same style was responsible for the popularity of H.G. Well's "War of the Worlds". When Orson Welles narrated the story, his voice and the drama of the radio was so convincing, people actually believed flying saucers were invading American cities. The power of radio was very strong in the time before television media. At any rate, my point is that this same magnetism is felt in the drama that Vincent Price and Basil Rathborne provide to the original master of horror pre-Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe.

Poe was responsible for creating the detective story, some would say the short story, American Gothic, macabre tales that gripped readers with haunting melancholia, dread and superstition. It was as if he took drugs and hallucinated and wrote down what he saw. Among his most famous tales, of which Vincent Price and Basil Rathborne perfectly read with powerful narration are "The Cask Of Amontillado", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Mask Of The Red Death," "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Tell-Tale Heart" and the "Black Cat". It is unfortunate that they did'nt include selections from "Tales From The Rue Morgue". Among the poems that are read and made Poe quite a literati are "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee".

With all the well-constructed suspense and literary Gothic, poetic romanticism, the tales of Edgar Allan Poe are suddenly alive and fresh in the old radio style. This is truly a great gift for fans of Gothic storytelling, and most specifically, for fans of Edgar Allan Poe. Not only is a great gift, a great audio treasure, but a perfect compliment to homework. Your high-school age son or daughter will benefit immensely from hearing these classic short stories, narrated dramatically by these old "mystery" movie actors from the 50's, a more pleasurable, but nonetheless educational experience.

Any fan of Mr. Poe's shocking stories will be happy to obtain this very fine collection, they read like a "greatest hits" list; The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, The Cask Of Amontillado (my favorite), The Black Cat, The Masque Of The Red Death, The Pit And The Pendulum and several others. The poetry of Mr. Poe is also well represented with his most famous works being included in this collection. There could be no better choice of narrators, Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone both possess voices that translate very well to the works of Mr. Poe, they are perfect in their gesticulation and their delivery. To hear Mr. Rathbone's voice rise into a frenzy of madness as the police come to investigate "a shriek in the night" durring the performance of The Tell Tale Heart is wonderful, the creepy narration of Mr. Price will remind you of listening to an old serial radio show. This is a large volume, 5 CDs that contain 6 hours of material, the sound quality is good despite the fact that these performances (at least Mr. Rathbone's) were taped in the 60's, I found no skips or static. This style of horror short story and especially POEtry are more difficult to follow than one would expect, I don't think this would be a good subsitute for a book on tape to listen to in a car, this collection demands your attention. So why you ask do I only rate this collection at 3 stars? The first reason is the omission of chapters within the stories, for example The Pit And The Pendulum is over 30 minutes long, if you are interupted or are required to divert your attentions while listening to a story you must either start all over again of use the seek function of your CD player to find where you left off, this gets to be a pain because there are 12 stories over 14 minutes long, some over 40 minutes long! My next reason depends on your own tastes, I like sound effects and backgrond music, this collection lacks both, if you are not bothered by the lack of effects or music raise this rating to 4 Stars. I have a version of The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat by Mr. Rathbone from the original taping back in the 60s and I think that the sounds of door hinges creaking , footsteps on stairs, cats meowing, bodies thumping the floor and the proverbial "shriek in the night" really enhance the story, futher a discrete background music can really increase the drama if done right. I had hoped to play this CD for the Trick Or Treaters on Halloween night to lend my home a spooky air about it, alas, this is the wrong CD for that job, it would go un-noticed except by a very few sharp eared parents, and even at that it would not have a scary effect to it. I suppose if you are a Poe "purist" this is the hot ticket. I am pleased with this collection however it just wasn't what I expected.

I bought this 5-CD collection of Poe readings by Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price about two months ago. They are excellent readers..although they don't bring enough life into the stories. I have heard better, but still, Basil Rathbone is to Poe what John Gielgud is to Shakespeare. My CD player can only hold 5 CDs at a time, so when I bought it, I was thinking "oh boy, now my CD player is crammed wall-to-wall with the works of the Master!" I still have that feeling, but I have some complaints.

First, the box clearly says "UNABRIDGED". This is false advertising. They rather pointlessly edited several passages from several stories. I was shocked, being a "purist". When I buy a 5-CD set of possibly the greatest writer in the past 200 years, by golly, I want it to be unabridged, just like it says on the box! If you are as deep a "believer in" Poe as I am, these omissions would be considered blasphemy!

Second, no music or sound effects. I find that background music and sound effects help liven up audio-books so that you aren't just listening to a voice reading words in an empty, echoing studio hall.

Nontheless, this is just about the best offering of Poe out there, and maybe I'm making it sound worse than it is, but I think it was 90% worth buying.

Yes, Poe is an extraordinary storyteller. Yes, his content is magnificent. Yes, he is a grandmaster of American literature. My poor review of this CD set is removed from Poe himself, but with the word "Unabridged" that is unabashedly displayed on the cover. While some of the stories do appear in their original form, many are cut, truncated, and butchered. The performances are extraordinary, sometimes chilling, renditions; however, they are not, as promised, "Unabridged." If it wasn't for that one word, that one promise of content on the packaging, I would give this set five stars.

this is a really wonderful collection of readings from e. a. poe's oeuvre. all of them are clear and clean recordings, and the articulation in the readers' voices is superb -- it makes me wish i could have experienced radio plays as a child (unfortunately i had to make do with atari and nintendo). oh well. NOTE: this is a very generous package as well. i thought i was going to get one cd for [$]: i got FIVE. there are HOURS of readings on these discs, and everything i've heard is wonderful. i recently used this collection for a show i produced for my students: if you are a sound engineer it will be very easy for you to sample these recordings, because there aren't any soundeffects or music in the background (which i prefer, because then the acting really shines through -- there's no production getting in the way of what you hear). i ripped "the mask of the red death" for a dance concert, applied different filters to the portions of the track i needed, added my own effects and music, and presto i have exactly what i need: a soundscore based entirely on the spoken word (but you'd never know it to hear it!). highly recommended

Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone bring to life some of Edgar Allen Poe's classic stories in this marvelous CD collection. Rathbone's rendition of "The Raven" is especially noteworthy. As the poem builds to its startling climax, the actor perhaps best known as one of the first to portray Sherlock Holmes onscreen proves he can do more than enact the role of the great detective. His precise enuciation coupled with his abject terror at the sight of the raven sitting atop the "pallid bust of Pallas" will chill and thrill the listener. His readings of "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Cask of Amontillado" are also very enjoyable (listen for the drunken voice of Fortunato in the latter, which is sure to bring a smile).

Price's readings, too, are a delight, as he brings to life "The Gold Bug" and - to me, the best selection - the tragic tale of "Ligeia". He has a way of making Poe's stories so personal that one can almost believe he is telling you about something which really did happen to him. Price becomes Poe's narrator so easily, so smoothly, that he gains the listener's sympathy instantly as he spins his terrifying tales.

One reviewer commented that the lack of background sound effects and music detracted from the collection. I beg to differ. Who needs distractions from these two sonorious voices as they wrap around you on a dark, chilly, rainy evening? If they were reading to you in front of the fire, there would be no background noises to distract your attention, and thus it is here. You get pure story-telling magic from two of the most acclaimed actors of the 20th century. The collection's audio quality is first-rate. No scratches, skips or other sounds to mar the excellent recording quality.

I purchased these CS for long trips in my car and they've kept me good company for just that purpose. For fans of Poe, these readings will renew awareness of the author's literary genius. For those unfamiliar with his work, no two actors could provide better introductions to the original master of horror.

I purchased this set because I thought it would be fun to listen to around Halloween. The narrators do an excellent job with the texts (could there by two better choices than these?) and, while some stories are edited, this collection still serves as a great sampler of Poe and his best loved works. My biggest complaint with this set comes not with the editing of the stories, but rather with the sound quality on this disk. While listening to this set in the car, I needed to put the volume up to its maximum to hear the dramatic whispers and then, when the action got faster, the narrator would scream which would then be at a ridiculously loud volume. I listen to lots of books on CD in the car and have never had this problem with a disk before. The other warning I should offer to buyers is that, while Vincent Price gets top billing, he has the much smaller part. Only the last two disks has his readings, the rest are Basil Rathbone. I was disappointed to find this out at first, but Rathbone did such a great job, I got over it quickly. Overall a fun listen, if not perfect!

A treasury of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous works is found in this superb Audio Collection. Horror film actor legends Vincent Price and Basil Rathborne, who emerged as stars of the horror genre in the 50's and 60's, narrate various works by the 19th century master of psychological horror. Poe was like the definitive 19th century Goth- complete with a huge intellect, an inclination to feel depressed, a drug user and even mad/suicidal. His works are more than cheap horror pieces. They reveal deep psychological fears rooted in the subconscious, they speak of madness that some people are capable of, even when they feel sound of mind. The surrealism develops slowly, usually in the mind of the hero or heroine. The protagonist slowly loses their mind and Hell is unleashed and we are carried away in the shock and the horror. Poe was the Stephen King of his time. Many of his works border on fantasy-horror, which King has recently taken up. The Haunted Palace sounds terrific when narrated by Vincent Price, whose sinister, menacing voice lends a dramatic air of suspense and fear in its proper place. The Pit and the Pendulum and the Masque of the Red Death are phantasmagorical works of great art. I especially enjoy Red Death because it's almost like a twisted fairy tale. The arrogant, overconfident Prince who thought he was immune to the Red Death Plague is taught a valuable lesson and humbled when the Red Death enters his impenetrable fortress/castle of mazes. He holds a masquerade as if to mock death itself. But we all know not even high-born people escape death. The famous Tell-Tale Heart is chilling in its message of guilt. A man murders another man "for giving him a nasty look". He buries the heart beneath his home. The heart is still beating. The murder's guilty heart is still beating.....

And of course, who can forget the one work that Poe was immortalized for- his Gothic, darkly disturbing poem The Raven. Its flowery language, lyrical rhymes attest to Poe's mastership of the English language. This is the single most beautifully-written poems in the world, despite its bleak story of an imsomniac man who is grieving the death of his wife Leonore. A raven, traditionally a messenger of bad news (usually death) or a bird from hell, comes to torment the man further by claiming in his own indirect way that his Leonore is herself in Hell. It is of course more about the man's mental state than a bird who is conscious and intelligent. He says "Nevermore" but repeats it like a parrot so is therefore not a creature that has a purpose. It is the protagonist's own insecurites about his dead wife and the kind of life she may have lived that bothers him. Maybe she wasn't so pure or radiant. It is terrific work.