Book Review: Tales of Death and Dementia

Tales of Death and Dementia *****

by Edgar Allan Poe, Gris Grimly (Illustrator)

Tales of Death and Dementia is a collection of four of Poe's stories involving some form of madness, which is brilliantly illustrated by Gris Grimly (that has got to be a pen name!). The four stories included in this book are The Tell-Tale Heart (the most familiar of the the stories), The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether, The Oblong Box, and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar.

Each of the stories include Poe's well-known darkness, and he certainly seemed to have a good handle on the nature of madness. Each story is a little creepy, particularly The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, while others are pretty funny, like The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether. In any case, Gris Grimly does an excellent job of capturing the story in pictures. He is particularly talented when drawing crazy-eyes. Seriously.

This book offered a fun, new way to read Poe. The stories are short, but fully realized; the illustrations are awesome; and the book is quick to read through. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially those who are fans of Poe or into graphic novels.