Vincent Price Reads Edgar Allan Poe

Poet and author of the macabre and mysterious Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, which makes today his 205th birthday. Let's celebrate by watching horror movie legend Vincent Price, in his very distinctive tongue, recite some of Poe's best-known works.

We'll start with the 1970 film An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe. It was a filming of Price's one-man show in which Price, in costume and before a live audience, read (and acted) four of Poe's short stories. The four stories are "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Sphinx," "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." The film was released to theaters by MGM.

Watch:

I don't normally recommend reading YouTube comments, but one that caught my eye regarding the above was this from Felix Burke: "Some of us have forgotten the beauty and the power of the English language. Edgar Allan Poe's work interpreted by Vincent Price is pure magic. No special effects to dull our minds and imagination."

Poe's most famous work is his gothic poem "The Raven." Here is Price's reading: