Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait is a haunting Gothic short story about art, love, obsession and death. In this video, I read Poe's classic tale in full as part of my Framed in September ( #FramedInSeptember ) celebration of literature and art.
I'm Mike - this is Riff Raff's Reading Renaissance. - books, reading, literature and the pleasures of spending time with great books. Welcome!
As part of Framed in September, my celebration of books and stories centred around art, I thought I'd share this wonderfully atmospheric Poe story with you.
A wounded traveller takes refuge in an isolated, ancient chateau in the Apennines. In a remote turret, surrounded by strange and beautiful paintings, he discovers a portrait of a young woman whose lifelike expression deeply disturbs him. A book describing the paintings reveals the tragic story behind the portrait — and the terrible price of the painter's obsession with his art.
In this video, I read “The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe in full.
If you enjoy:
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Gothic literature
• Gothic short stories
• classic literature
• Victorian literature
• dark romanticism
• stories about art
• stories about artists
• stories about obsession
• literary readings
• classic short stories
• atmospheric horror
• supernatural and psychological fiction
then I hope you'll enjoy this wonderfully eerie little story.
Edgar Allan Poe — “The Oval Portrait”
Chapters / Timestamps:
00:00 — Introduction: Framed in September
00:34 — Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait (Live read)
08:56— Afterword
📚 Framed in September is my celebration of literature and art, exploring books and stories in which painting, sculpture, music and other forms of artistic expression play an important role.
VIEWER QUESTION:
What did you make of Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait?
It's such a short story, but Poe packs an extraordinary amount into it: art, obsession, love, beauty, death and the terrible question of whether a work of art can become more important to an artist than the living person who inspired it.
And if you're joining me for Framed in September, I'd love to know what books or stories about art you're reading this month. 📚🎨
And for the almighty algorithm:
#edgarallanpoe #TheOvalPortrait #gothicliterature #shortstories #booktube
Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait is a haunting Gothic short story about art, love, obsession and death. In this video, I read Poe's classic tale in full as part of my Framed in September ( #FramedInSeptember ) celebration of literature and art.
I'm Mike - this is Riff Raff's Reading Renaissance. - books, reading, literature and the pleasures of spending time with great books. Welcome!
As part of Framed in September, my celebration of books and stories centred around art, I thought I'd share this wonderfully atmospheric Poe story with you.
A wounded traveller takes refuge in an isolated, ancient chateau in the Apennines. In a remote turret, surrounded by strange and beautiful paintings, he discovers a portrait of a young woman whose lifelike expression deeply disturbs him. A book describing the paintings reveals the tragic story behind the portrait — and the terrible price of the painter's obsession with his art.
In this video, I read “The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe in full.
If you enjoy:
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Gothic literature
• Gothic short stories
• classic literature
• Victorian literature
• dark romanticism
• stories about art
• stories about artists
• stories about obsession
• literary readings
• classic short stories
• atmospheric horror
• supernatural and psychological fiction
then I hope you'll enjoy this wonderfully eerie little story.
Edgar Allan Poe — “The Oval Portrait”
Chapters / Timestamps:
00:00 — Introduction: Framed in September
00:34 — Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait (Live read)
08:56— Afterword
📚 Framed in September is my celebration of literature and art, exploring books and stories in which painting, sculpture, music and other forms of artistic expression play an important role.
VIEWER QUESTION:
What did you make of Edgar Allan Poe's The Oval Portrait?
It's such a short story, but Poe packs an extraordinary amount into it: art, obsession, love, beauty, death and the terrible question of whether a work of art can become more important to an artist than the living person who inspired it.
And if you're joining me for Framed in September, I'd love to know what books or stories about art you're reading this month. 📚🎨
And for the almighty algorithm:
#edgarallanpoe #TheOvalPortrait #gothicliterature #shortstories #booktube
