The Murders in the Rue Morgue Murders in the Rue Morgue" continues an urban theme that was used several times in Poe's fiction, in particular "The Man of the Crowd", likely inspired by Poe's time living in Philadelphia. The tale has an underlying metaphor for the battle of brains vs. brawn. Physical strength, depicted as the orangutan as well as its owner, stand for violence: the orangutan is a murderer, while its owner admits he has abused the animal with a whip. The analyst's brainpower overcomes their violence. The story also contains Poe's often-used theme of the death of a beautiful woman, which he called the
Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales with a cover by Robh Ruppel. Rick Swan reviewed "Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales" for "Dragon" magazine #216 (April 1995). He declares that "Masque of the Red Death" is cause for celebration, especially for players whose "AD&D" game campaigns have gone stale. Not exactly the Ravenloft setting and not exactly a new game, Connors' little mutant is the most provocative "AD&D" variant since the Spelljammer campaign." He commented: "Balancing blood-soaked imagery with humorous flourishes [...] "Masque" deftly combines the gloom of White Wolf's "" game and the whimsy of R. Talsorian's "Castle Falkenstein" game. Though "Masque" would've