The Premature Burial vs The White People: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Short Story, Horror
The Premature Burial
“There are certain themes of which the interest is all–absorbing, but which are too entirely horrible for the purposes of legitimate fiction.”
"The Premature Burial" is a horror short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1844 in The Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper. Its main character expresses concern about being buried alive. This fear was…
1 film adaptation
vs
The White People
"The White People" is a horror short story by Welsh author Arthur Machen. Written in the late 1890s, it was first published in 1904 in Horlick's Magazine, edited by Machen's friend A. E. Waite, then reprinted in…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The White People has the widest readership — 4802 ratings behind its score.
- The White People runs the darker storyline; The Premature Burial stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Premature Burial | The White People | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (4628) | 3.9 (4802) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (18) | 3.4 (17) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (6) | 4.0 (5) |
Reception
| The Premature Burial | The White People | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 4628 | 4802 |
| Editions | 45 | 247 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 1424 | 12153 |
| Reading it now | 55 | 444 |
| Written reviews | 457 | 498 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1415 | 1977 |
| Pages | 32 | 42 |