The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” combines aspects of Gothic literature with psychological horror to provide readers with an unforgettably chilling experience. “The Fall of the House of Usher” relates the events in the final days of the Usher family as Roderick Usher’s sister, Madeline, slowly succumbs to a mysterious disease. The events are related to us through an unnamed narrator, a childhood friend of Roderick’s. However, as readers explore this account through the narrator’s perspective, the fearful events prove infectious, as the horror of isolation and the singular presence of the House take hold. Through innovative masterpieces like “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe delved into the very nature of FEAR itself, crafting the particular kind of Gothic stories we are accustomed to today.