The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection

By: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrated by: Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone

Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Universally acclaimed as the maestro of horror and the morbid, Edgar Allan Poe's dark gift has for more than a century and a half set the standard for the genre. Here, 20 of Poe's most chilling stories and poems are performed by two of his most brilliant interpreters: Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone. Included are The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher, Bells, The Gold Bug, and many more!

©2000 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., All Rights Reserved. (P)2000 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

Critic Reviews

2000 Winner of Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award: Archival Reissue

 

"Superb renderings...[Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone] know this material well...and know how to make it chill the listener. It's a romp for them and a delight for us." (AudioFile)

Excellent performance, poor formatting.

As mentioned by other reviewers: a. Price and Rathbone provide a masterful performance here, and b. the formatting is bad enough to render the recording almost unusable, especially to those not already intimately familiar with the works of Poe. I have little to add by way of review, but I took the time to create a table of contents that I hope will be of assistance to other listeners.

1.) 0:10 - 2:03 To -----
2.) 2:03 - 3:10 Alone
3.) 3:15 - 6:23 The City in the Sea
4.) 6:28 - 31:20 Berenice
5.) 31:25 - 55:28 The Fall of the House of Usher *
6.) 55:30 - 1:44:27 Ligeia
7.) 1:44:30 - 1:46:49 excerpt from The Fall of the House of Usher
8.) 1:46:55 - 2:18:43 The Pit and the Pendulum
9.) 2:18:46 - 2:35:27 The Masque of the Red Death
10.) 2:35:33 - 2:49:37 The Tell-Tale Heart
11.) 2:49:40 - 3:45:27 The Gold Bug
12.) 3:45:30 - 4:12:19 The Black Cat
13.) 4:12:25 - 4:20:58 The Raven
14.) 4:21:03 - 4:38:00 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
15.) 4:38:01 - 4:54:07 The Cask of Amontillado
16.) 4:54:13 - 4:58:23 The Bells
17.) 4:58:28 - 5:00:35 Annabel Lee
18.) 5:00:40 - 5:01:19 Eldorado
19.) 5:01:25 - 5:16:00 The Imp of the Perverse
20.) 5:16:06 - 5:31:22 Morella

*Selection #5, "The Fall of the House of Usher" skips a section of verse (marked as I-VI in the text), along with approximately one page on either side of this section. The skip occurs at 40:57. Selection #7 is of the missing verse (I-VI), though without the other material excluded from #5. Selection #5 has additional abridgments - a paragraph here, a sentence or a word there. I have not found any further abridgments in the other selections; if you find any, please post the information in a review.

215 people found this helpful

what should be a labor of love ..

... has some abridgements and is impossible to navigate without tom's table of contents.

i will reproduce it here with many thanks to it's creator (see tom in another review):

1.) 0:10 - 2:03 To -----
2.) 2:03 - 3:10 Alone
3.) 3:15 - 6:23 The City in the Sea
4.) 6:28 - 31:20 Berenice
5.) 31:25 - 55:28 The Fall of the House of Usher *
6.) 55:30 - 1:44:27 Ligeia
7.) 1:44:30 - 1:46:49 excerpt from The Fall of the House of Usher
8.) 1:46:55 - 2:18:43 The Pit and the Pendulum
9.) 2:18:46 - 2:35:27 The Masque of the Red Death
10.) 2:35:33 - 2:49:37 The Tell-Tale Heart
11.) 2:49:40 - 3:45:27 The Gold Bug
12.) 3:45:30 - 4:12:19 The Black Cat
13.) 4:12:25 - 4:20:58 The Raven
14.) 4:21:03 - 4:38:00 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
15.) 4:38:01 - 4:54:07 The Cask of Amontillado
16.) 4:54:13 - 4:58:23 The Bells
17.) 4:58:28 - 5:00:35 Annabel Lee
18.) 5:00:40 - 5:01:19 Eldorado
19.) 5:01:25 - 5:16:00 The Imp of the Perverse
20.) 5:16:06 - 5:31:22 Morella

i know it is a gargantuan task for audible to provide all of this material, so i forgive them their small problems.

that said, the narration is terrific and if you go to sleep with this, your nightmares will be of the most wonderful kind.

23 people found this helpful

No Titles or Introductions and ABRIDGED

Although the reading is performed in an exceptional manner, this collection is best suited for one very familiar with Poe's works. Many selections are less popular short stories. None have introductions or even a pause between the current and previous selection. You may require a text of the entire collected works of Poe on your lap while listening to understand what short story is read. Also, some (Fall of the House of Usher and others) are abridged. Tales of Terror narrated by Foreman may be a better choice.

33 people found this helpful

Excellent to listen to, but not

The combination of voice with the macabre writings of Edgar Allan Poe are certainly a perfect combination; however, as previously noted, there are no titles prior to each narration. Also - and more importantly - for readers of Edgar Poe, this narration is NOT unabridged. Entire paragraphs are left out. It's still fantastic to listen to, but don't be deceived, it is an abridged version of many of the tales.

21 people found this helpful

Superior Poe!

There are many recordings of Poe's work -- ranging from the bland to the wildly overheated. This is the best, without paralell. Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price bring authority, wit and sensitivity to the tales and poems. These performers are not afraid to relish the juicy melodrama and they have the vocal equipment and training to make the language soar. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Oh, and by the way, the tales themselves are still scary, disturbing and haunting after all these years.

9 people found this helpful

Great reading, poor

As previously stated, the reading is superb, but as a person who has never encountered more of Poe than the well known, "Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore'", I would have appreciated a clearer "packaging". There are no titles or significant story dividers. The narrator simply starts at the beginning and continues on. While listening, one can usually figure out where each story ends and another begins, but, if you're not familiar with the Poe material (like myself), you won't know which story you're listening to. Still worth it, but could be better.

19 people found this helpful

Poe and Price--the Perfect Couple

This is a case of perfect reader meeting a perfect text. If you like Poe, even if you have different recordings of his work, get this one! You'll appreciate the chilling and macabre TONE that the readers add to Poe's already creepy stories. My favorite: Imp of the Perverse.

15 people found this helpful

The Definitive Audio Poe Collection

Would you listen to The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection again? Why?

I would listen to this book again because it was very well performed and I've always found that listening to Poe better than reading the printed work.

What did you like best about this story?

My favorite story by Poe is "Fall of the House of Usher" and Rathbone does a great job bringing the stories to life.

What about Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone ’s performance did you like?

They read the stories at a rate of speed that made it possible for Poe's rather odd style and vocabulary to be better understood.

If you could take any character from The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would take the poor tormented soul from "The Raven" out to dinner to help him cope with the loss of fair Lenore.

Any additional comments?

The problem with this book is the lack of titles at the beginning of the stories and poems. The publisher should add a narrator to state the title of each segment so that the listener knows what story or poem is being performed--perhaps with some creepy background music to set the mood. The audio quality could also be improved.

4 people found this helpful

Fine work from master horror actors

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I grew up watching old horror movies on Saturday nights. Basil Rathbone was always Sherlock Holmes, and Vincent Price was some kind of mad scientist. I never realized how much vocal training they must have had during their careers -- it shows on this recording, one of the best I've ever heard (and I listen to a lot of recorded books.) Rathbone brings Poe's poetry to life, rather than let it lie tediously on the page ("The Bells.") Price makes accessible one of Poe's best stories, The Gold Bug, by absorbing and translating for a modern ear the page-long sentences of Poe's time.

I first heard this book on a tape borrowed from the library, and briefly considered "losing" it rather than returning it when the due date arrived because I wanted to keep it for myself. It's great to have it on my MP3 player now! I will never nod off on a long drive again. This stuff is better than caffeine.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The Gold Bug is remarkable because the main character is so unreliable. The narrator can't tell whether he is crazy or not, so you have no idea whether they will be successful at finding the treasure, or even whether there is any to be found at all; and then you still need to know how they knew where to look. It's an original, absorbing mystery, perfectly written.

Have you listened to any of Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Who hasn't heard Price on Michael Jackson's Thriller? He loves to chill your blood. Basil Rathbone Is absolutely mesmerizing in The Pit and the Pendulum, much more emotionally intense than his brainy portrayal of Holmes.

Who was the most memorable character of The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection and why?

Both actors shine. It's a joy to watch them compete for best in show. Every time I listen to this book, I get to ask myself which one is better. And this is a book into which one can dip many times. Perhaps the one who shines most brightly is Poe. He is a national treasure. I question the editor's decision not to include some of his best stories in this collection, however (The Purloined Letter, The Murders in the Rue Morgue.) Perhaps the recording was made as a kind of lark, to see whether there would be any real audience for it. Or maybe it was made quickly, in preparation for a Halloween radio broadcast. The problem is, where are the actors today who can generate performances like these? I think Poe would be pleased with their work. They not only "get" him in spades, but they make him understandable to us, even through the thicket of his outdated English.

Any additional comments?

If you are a serious collector of recorded books, you should own this recording. I think it might be useful to English teachers who want to get their classes through a unit on Poe. Or for anyone who likes Halloween and has had enough of the Monster Mash.

3 people found this helpful

No titles given to intro the stories.

I enjoyed it, but they did not read an introduction to the stories so you aren't sure what you are listening to. Only way to know you are on to a different story is the change in narrator.

1 person found this helpful

Almost perfect but...

I absolutely loved this, Edgar Allan Poe's stories are timeless, and you couldn't ask for more perfect narrators...HOWEVER, it would be so helpful if each chapter actually corresponded to each story and there was more info available such as the name of each story and who was narrating it. This is a failure on audibles part and by no means a reflection on the audio book itself.

16 people found this helpful

Master Recitals!

Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price both attack these texts of the Legend himself, Mr Edgar Allen Poe. These are all absolutely outstanding performances that are beyond criticism. Never again will we be able to hear such eloquent performances. Modern voices have lost much in terms of dramatic expression. Mr Rathbone and Mr Price can never be repeated.



Poe's works were meant to be read outloud. The textures of his prose and verse are highly stylized and individualistic. If we appreciate when these were actually written we will understand that Poe was a master of language. He was a phenomenon in that his prose is still sounding so modern. Among his peers he is strikingly modernist and evolutionary in American Literature.



Poe is an author and poet one can read time and time again. You will never tire of these stories and they can keep you pleasantly haunted on constant return trips into the dark yet, by today's standards, quite moral imagination of Mr Poe.

6 people found this helpful

A pleasant surprise!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection to be better than the print version?

Yes - professional intonation and emphasis brings to life the written word

What did you like best about this story?

Variety of both form and content

What does Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Delivery in a way that I would never "hear in my head" when I read the books - hugely but appropriately emphasised senses of drama, tension, horror and madness - excellent performances

Any additional comments?

I only got this as I love the poem "The Raven", but listened to everything else and loved it all - some well known stories and texts were really given a new lease of life and made more accessible through amazing performances by Price and Rathbone - I really love Poe's style of writing and use of language - this is even more pleasurable when spoken - very enjoyable listening experience!!

2 people found this helpful

excellent fun except for editing

the performances as good as one would expect, deliciously hammy especially from Price. only criticism is that often several poems stories bunged into one chapter, and the readers often don't announce title of the piece which makes it difficult to navigate. Audible should do this better.

4 people found this helpful

Where the hell is the chapters?

Please update this gem with chapter titles because the performance and material are world class, currently ruined by the lack of chapters. It's like a 15 hour mp3 wihh no indication what's where

Enjoyable stories. Bad formatting.

Why can't thie stories be divided into titled chapters?

Why is there no pause between stories?

Perfect

Love these stories all of them, Basil Rathbone is brilliant, Vincent Price I could listen to this man for hours, close your eyes he takes you into the story you feel like you are in it, don’t believe me.......buy it.

The Master Of The Macabre

Anybody wanting to know where to start with Edgar Allan Poe,should look no further then this superb recording.All the classic tales and poems are here and they are read by two of of the "Golden Age Of Hollywoods" greatest orators,Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone.If I had one minor complaint,It would be the lack of title headings and poor chaptering.

A collection of poetry and stories beautifully read read but appallingly difficult to access

Purchased My first Audible book of short stories and poetry. I don't know if all Poetry volumes are sold in this format but all you get in this volume is the book title and numbered chapters with no information on the contents. To access a particular poem you have flash forward through hours of content. The Audible novels are a pleasure to use but Edgar Alan Poe Audible book turns a normally pleasant experience into an ordeal

2 people found this helpful

2 Masters of horror and suspense,& Poe.....

So well read by 2 of my all time favourite movie voices, they just dont make tgem like this any more,exceptional poise,delivery,suspense and a healthydose of camp creep factor)