Masque of the Red Death

Okay, so, I have this thing about the Masque of the Red Death. No no! Hear me out on this...

I feel like I've talked about this before, but if I have it's been ages. I think I read the short story first in the 8th grade while we were doing a segment on Edgar Allan Poe, and have re-read it many times sense.

In spite of my frequent reviews of the story over the past 13 or so years, and in spite of Poe's specific description of the many rooms in the suite where the story takes place, I can NOT wrap my head around the way the place is laid out. I've gone so far as to scrawl maps onto grid paper, and I still can't grasp it.

Part of the problem, I think, is my ignorance of the typical architecture of the story's time. I don't even have a basis to begin with to imagine what a *normal* imperial suite would have looked like, let alone Prospero's bizarre rendition of one.

I've often contemplated doing some renderings of the rooms and the layout, but I think this is the year I'm actually going to sit down and do it. You will not conquer me, Poe, not this time!

Likely, the internet could help me in my need of a map, but somehow I feel like this is something I have to generate straight out of my brain. Will I succeed? Mystery! Intrigue!