The Hope Diamond 

is somehow connected with the Red Death

The most notorious gem in history, the flawless Hope Diamond has left behind it a trail of so many ill-fated owners that superstitions persist about its curse.

Mined in India, the steel-blue stone weighed 112 carats when it reached France in 1668, with a haunting tale that thieves had brought a jinx upon it by plucking it from an idol's eye. Gem trader Jean Baptiste Tavernier sold it to Louis XV1 who had it cut into a 67 carat heart shape and dubbed it the "Blue Diamond of the Crown."

Louis XV1 and Marie Antoinette inherited the Blue. During the French Revolution, Marie, shorn of gems, faced the guillotine.

In an unsolved robbery, the diamond disappeared from Paris in 1792. It reappeared in London in 1830 in its present 44.5 carat oval cutting; banker Henry Hope brought it for $90,000. After his death his heirs suffered assorted scandals; one, Lord Francis Hope died penniless.

The Hope moved on. An eastern European prince gave it to an actress of the Folies Bergere and later shot her. A Greek owner plunged to his death over a precipice with his family in an auto accident. Turkish Sultan Abdul-Hamid 11 had owned the stone only a few months when a revolt of military officers - The Young Turks - toppled him in 1909

The Hope's first American owner, Evelyn Walsh McLean, had seen the diamond in the sultan's harem. She purchased it, mounted as a necklace with 62 white diamonds on the installment plan from French jeweler Pierre Cartier for $180,000. Undeterred by legend she delighted in displaying it. Fatal accidents claimed two children; mental illness her husband.

After Mrs McLean's death in 1947, New York jeweler Harry Winston purchased the jewels, including the Hope. He donated the famed gem to the Smithsonian in 1958.
Source: National Geographic December 1971

What is Red Death? 

Red Death

Write about the Red Death 

and prepare for Halloween at Soul Food

Halloween is a good time to pull out your Edgar Allan Poe stories and poems and this is a wonderful chance to tell a Poe style story.

Post your responses on the Halloween Blog and at the Pythian Games. If you are not a member of either of these blogs you better email heatherblakey at fastmail.fm.

And do tell your friends to check this page out and give Mad Challenges five stars while you are here.

Red Death Project at Soul Food

Sketch the events in the beginning of Edgar Allan Poe's classic horror story, The Masque of the Red Death, in your visual journal. Show what Red Death looks like, draw the castle, the keys and Prince Prospero leading the 1000 brave and strong into his country retreat. Make notes. Then continue the story. Write 500 words.

Listen to the Masque of the Red Death 

by Edgar Allan Poe

Listen to the Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, but not until you have finished your work.

**AUDIO CASSETTE ONE: Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories And Poems, Dramatic Readings By Edward Blake: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask Of Amontillado, Masque Of The Red Death, The Raven, Annabel Lee [UNABRIDGED]

by Edgar Allan Poe, Edward Blake

Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)

Red Death Stories and Art 

from the Soul Food Community

Red Death by Sirius Tyde

Let it not be said that death is a cruel master, for it can bring peace and quiet rest. For some, a rude interruption in their fun and games, but for others, a reward, a blessing, as it ends their suffering. It has been some time now that I have resided with pain, my constant companion and faithful shadow, and as it hurt most deeply last night, I slept fitfully and dreamed of dying.

Masque of the Red Death by Ryan Camilerri

In the dark depths of the Bavarian mountains, laid a village. A village that was plagued with fear, riddled with death. The church bells tolled continuously, terror gripping the town people. They called the terror Red Death.

Masque of the Red Death by Carly Santos

...Prince Prospero threw away the key. The people were happy to see the end of worrying and suffering. The new kingdom was named "Utopia", for the new paradise they lived in.

Everything was fine. The people were happy; there was plenty of food and supplies. But as it happens, the population rose quite dramatically in the few first months. Prince Prospero didn't quite prepare the trip entirely well. Food and fresh produce started running out slowly, but if the population rate didn't stay stable they would be out of food in the next 3 months. There wasn't enough of anything growing to replace anything eaten.

Masque of the Red Death by S Oakes

The Red Death was coming. You could feel it on the wind as the slaves carried food, wine and other necessities over the drawbridge into the castle.

Many commoners had heard about King Prospero's plan to escape the Red Death. They were coming, and they carried its venomous wrath with them. They could not be allowed to enter.

Masque of the Red Death by A.M. Moscoso

After nearly 20 years of silence the Prospero Lab over looking Lake Edmonds will be re-opened and it's secrets, now the stuff of urban legend will hopefully be revealed.

Masque of the Red Death

UPI: (Budapest, Transylvania). A mysterious illness is decimating Clan Dracül. The descendants of Vlad (the Impaler), once quite numerous, are dwindling at an alarming rate. Clan Dracül once flew at over 10,000 strong. Due to fatalities from the 'Red Death', as it is being called, there are barely 2,000 adult Dracül able to take wing and feed. The Eldars and flightless young are the hardest hit by the Red Death.

Share your experiences 

with the Red Death