Who wrote 'The Masque of the Red Death'?

• A. Bram Stoker
• B. H. G. Wells
• C. Arthur Conan Doyle
• D. Poe

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is recognizing a famous work and who wrote it within Gothic literature. The Masque of the Red Death is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1842. It presents a masked ball during a plague, with symbolic, vivid imagery—the seven colored rooms, the revelry, and the sudden intrusion of the Red Death—through which Poe explores themes of mortality and inevitability. This piece is quintessentially Poe in its mood, allegory, and twist ending, which is why Poe is the best answer. Other authors listed are known for different works—Bram Stoker for Dracula, H. G. Wells for science fiction like The War of the Worlds, Arthur Conan Doyle for Sherlock Holmes—but this specific story is Poe’s.