The Cask of Amontillado
▶ Listen to the free preview — no account neededPlays in your browser; nothing to install. Full story $2.99 with a free account, yours to keep.
About this story
"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge." Montresor tells us this on the first page and then spends the rest of the story being charming. It is carnival night in an unnamed Italian city; Fortunato is drunk, dressed in motley and bells, and cannot resist being asked to judge a cask of rare Amontillado waiting deep in the Montresor family vaults.
Poe published the story in 1846, the year after "The Raven" made him famous and while he was feuding publicly with rival writers — many readers hear a private grudge in Montresor's smiling patience. What makes it endure is the voice: a murderer who never raises his, who plays on his victim's pride with a connoisseur's care, and who is telling us this fifty years later without a flicker of remorse.
This is the complete 1846 text, about seventeen minutes, directed as a two-hander inside a darkened-cave sound environment — dripping nitre, the ring of a trowel, jester's bells receding down stone stairs. The words are on screen as they are spoken, which is useful for a story that appears on nearly every high-school syllabus and rewards a second, slower listen.
The cast
- Narrator
- Montresor
- Fortunato
How this was made
This is a full-cast production, not a single narrator reading a book. Each character has its own voice, the lines are directed for pace and emotion, and the story plays inside a live sound environment — dripping stone and a torch guttering in the dark — that shifts as the scenes change. The voices are synthetic (high-quality text-to-speech, directed by people), and the words appear on screen as they are spoken, so you can read along or follow in a second language.
Questions
Is this the complete story?
Yes. Every word of Poe's text is read; only the direction and the sound environment are added.
Why is it rated 16+?
For the premeditated murder at the centre of the story, which is Poe's own text. There is no gore; the horror is in how calmly it is told.
How much does it cost?
The opening is free to hear right now, no account needed. The full story is $2.99, a one-time purchase with a free account that stays in your library. Several stories on this site are free in full.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Press Play and it opens in your browser. It works on iPhone, iPad, Android and desktop.
Can I read along?
Yes. The text is highlighted word by word as it is spoken, and you can switch the on-screen text to Spanish while listening in English (or the other way round).
Source and rights
"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in Godey's Lady's Book, November 1846. Public domain. Complete text, directed by ImmersivePage. Cover and scene art created for this edition.
