The Masque of the Red Death – Edgar Allan Poe

"And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."

While a plague known as the Red Death devastates the country, Prince Prospero locks himself and a thousand nobles in his castellated abbey to party in safety. They hold a lavish masquerade ball in seven colored rooms. But at the stroke of midnight, a mysterious figure dressed as a corpse appears, bringing the contagion inside the walls.

This allegory is a chilling reminder of the inevitability of death. It critiques the arrogance of the wealthy who believe they can wall themselves off from the suffering of the world, only to find that mortality respects no boundaries.