"And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."
Illustrators seem to be in a competition as to how horrifying they can make the masked guest. A prime example here.◊
Nothing Is Scarier is in full effect here. It's not said what the "Red Death" is nor what it could be but we do know that we don't want to catch it and its descriptions leaves a whole lot more to the imagination. Which is impressive given this is a time period where diseases were just barely being studied as causes of illness.
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