This is another story from Poe. It is not a horror like his other ones. It is a symbolic story about death. It takes place in a fictional place set during the Gothic period.
Prince Prospero: He is a rich nobleman.
The Red Death: It is a figure who symbolizes death. It is like a disease, which spreads around and kills people.
This plague called the Red Death is sweeping through the country killing people. A lot of Prince Prospero's men have been killed by it.
One night the Prince has a masquerade ball. In his huge castle they have a lot of security to try and lock out this ghost/plague called the Red Death. Poe spends a lot of the story describing the rooms and the people at the ball. Then the Prince sees one guest in a mask that resembles the Red Death. He tells the guard to grab the guy, but nobody wants to touch him.
Then the prince chases the guest and finally catches up with him. He tries to stab him but Prince Prospero falls dead. The other guests come in and see that the masked guest isn't a person at all, and has no humanly figure. Then all of the guests die.