In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” there are seven rooms in Prince Prospero’s abbey.
The rooms form a suite through which the masked revelers move during Prospero’s extravagant ball. The first six are decorated in blue, purple, green, orange, white, and violet. The seventh is black, illuminated by scarlet light, and contains a huge ebony clock whose hourly chimes interrupt the festivities.
The final chamber is more than an architectural detail. Its black-and-red design, association with blood, and ominous clock make it the symbolic center of the story. Few guests enter it, and Prospero ultimately confronts the mysterious figure there at midnight.
A common mistake is to count only the six brightly colored rooms and overlook the black chamber. The story was first published in 1842 under the title “The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy.”