The Dank Dark Setting of The Cask and Usher In many of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories the atmosphere is dark and dreary. The settings in Poe's stories, "The Cask of Amontillado" and the "The Fall of the House of Usher," are cryptic and melancholy. In "The Cask of Amontillado," a underground vault is described as, "a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame" (280). "The …showed first 75 words of 1931 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1931 total…which Poe created. According to David S. Reynolds, "The Cask of Amontillado" is a prime example of Poe’s ability to sculpt materials from popular literature and culture into a masterwork of terror (503). Poe gives the effect of horror in a story of revenge and describes the setting in a mystic fashion. Poe’s use of horror in his stories invites his readers to a gruesome dreary journey that leaves the reader terrified and excited.