Let's have some fun!

Okay I'm more than done with this pandemic and lockdowns.  I live in SoCal and our governor has shut down the state almost as much as we were shut down last April.

The good news is we can now watch baseball intra-squad games.  It's strange to see the stadiums empty of people.  But it's fun to watch games again.

Take-away: we need some fun!

What genre would you equate with the OPPOSITE of fun?  There's no way this genre is fun.  No one could pay you enough to call this “fun”.  If you said horror, you think like I do.  [This may not be something you want to mention to the others in your life.]

I spent several hours looking at sites like “the scariest horror stories ever written”.  What surprised me the most is that I've actually read several of the stories on those lists.  Yikes!  I would NOT call myself a horror reader.  I hide under the blankets at the beginning of Columbo episodes.  How can it be possible that I've read some of these????

Let's start our exploration of “fun” with the master – Edgar Allan Poe.

Here are eight of his most famous/popular stories.  You've read all of these, haven't you?  I have, which is not something I would have ever expected.  Which one would you say is his best?  You can define “best” however you want.  The scariest.  The best written.  The one you can still remember verbatim from your high school days.  The one that still causes you nightmares.

"The Cask of Amontillado"
"The Fall of the House of Usher"
"The Masque of the Red Death"
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
"The Pit and the Pendulum"
"The Purloined Letter"
"The Tell-Tale Heart"
"The Raven"

The ones I can still remember almost 100% of the plot are "The Cask of Amontillado, "The Pit and the Pendulum", and "The Tell-Tale Heart".  So for me, those three are the most memorable.

Let us know your vote for THE BEST EDGAR ALLAN POE story in the comments!  And if you're so inclined, tell us WHY you think that story is the best.

Have fun!