Read Poe’s Beloved Tales Of The Macabre With iPoe
iPoe - The Interactive and illustrated Edgar Allan Poe Collection ($3.99) by Play Creatividad is an interactive book full of mystery and horror. Read three of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous tales of terror in this scary app. Use headphones for optimal fright, but don’t read in the dark. You never know what is hiding around the corner.
Edgar Allan Poe is well known for his eerie and macabre horror stories of the 19th century. Middle school students across the U.S. have been exposed to his unique and dark poetry for decades. Now, fans can have access to three of his more popular works in an interactive, and more frightening way.
The first story, "The Oval Portrait," includes a painting that can only be seen by dim light, a young man reading by candlelight that you can watch slowly falling to sleep and a terrifying ending that will have you jumping out of your seat.
"The Tell-Tale Heart" includes the familiar thump, thump, thump of the old man’s heart. There is nothing creepier than being confronted suddenly with "The Masque of the Red Death." Each story includes various interactive images that fit the story. One one page, you can press your finger to the iPad screen and a bloody fingerprint will appear.
The artwork reminds me of comic book design, more specifically, Dark Horse Comics. The depiction of the young bride in "The Oval Portrait" is both sweet and unnatural at the same time. The party-goers in "The Masque of the Red Death" bear striking resemblances to familiar pop culture characters. If you look closely, you’ll see a woman in a “Slave Leia” costume, a man dressed like a Skeksis and Vampirella.
There is a sketchbook section where interested readers can see pencil sketches of the illustrations by David Garcia Fores. Here, you can swipe your finger across some of the sketches and watch them become fully finished images.
The only thing that is a little annoying about this app is that pages flip excruciatingly slowly. There are times when I thought I hadn’t hit the page turn arrow properly because it took so long to load.
This is an entertaining way to read some of Poe’s most popular works. There are lots of interesting and creepy interactive additions, without it taking away from the enjoyment of the stories. The price is reasonable considering you get three Poe tales, along with interesting interactive frights. If you are a fan of the macabre, this is a great way to enjoy the Master’s works.
