The Masque of the Red Death

"The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as «The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy», is an 1842 short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ballwithin seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose «costume» proves to contain nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn.