[8] Despite the title, the show was actually based on eight Edgar Allan Poe tales, including "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Black Cat", "William Wilson", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "Berenice", "Ligeia", "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", "The Telltale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado".

[5] The show did not utilise a central narrative beyond the loose themes of The Masque of the Red Death,[1] but rather encouraged the audience to experience short sections of acting and dance described in the Financial Times as "an impressionistic collage of several of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories rather than anything resembling a linear drama".

[7] Beyond the individual performances and setpieces themselves, audience members could enrich their understanding of the narrative by interacting with the hundreds of detailed props, such as notes, messages, diaries and labels.

[2] The venue for the show was the Old Town Hall (built 1893), Lavender Hill, Wandsworth, London, home to the Battersea Arts Centre since 1965[11] The show utilised almost all of the building, relying in particular on areas that were not usually used for performance or even accessible by the public, such as corridors and offices - "Punchdrunk enabled us to look at the Old Town Hall Building with fresh eyes, seeing the potential in every room, corridor, stairwell and cupboard, opening up areas that had been shut away for years" (Battersea Arts Centre Website).

[13] However, in order to reach this point, it was necessary for the participants to work together and interact with the sets, props, and at times the actors themselves, within The Masque of the Red Death show, as well as by solving puzzles online.