I felt like I couldn't really go wrong with this book. I means it's freaking Poe. Even his worst story is awesome compared to the junk that gets published these days. Four of Poe's stories are featured in this book: The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death, Hop-Frog and The Fall of the House of Usher. The stories are great and Gris Grimly's illustrations highlight the text nicely. I definitely recommend this one for Halloween time or even as a gift to teens being introduced to Poe. Keep in mind that the first story contains animal abuse, so if you're sensitive to animal abuse skip that one.