this is literally - LITERALLY - the plot setup of Edgar Allan Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" https://twitter.com/aaronreynolds/status/1244622203615838221

a fun story I have about Masque of the Red Death is that years ago my playwrights collective did a devised theatre piece where each of us was assigned a color (in Masque order, where every room in the palace is a different color with red last) and a different Poe work to adapt

Masque of the Red Death was kind of the framing device, so it was like you the audience were Prince Prospero’s guests holed up in the castle, going from room to room, watching the royal players, but then at the end your host gets DEATHED by a mysterious woman in red

normally I hate audience participation but there was something extremely chilling about having the actors like getting into costume fervently welcome you at the door and usher you in, all “thank god, we heard you were dead!” or “quick, close the door before anyone else gets in!”

my assignment was Blue Room (so I was first in order, for those of you who remember your Poe) and “Annabel Lee”, which I fixed by making it gay

I just have to say that so far, with the exception of the old classic “Man Too Insecure to Use Own Face As Twitter Icon Offers Unsolicited Negative Opinions on Woman’s Face,” this is the funniest my mentions have been in forevs. A+ JOKES ALL AROUND EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE GUY!

though I promise I do know about the Decameron so you don’t have to worry about continuing to tell me about the Decameron