It’s just so wonderfully old fashioned and ornate and yet at the same time, being a short novel, incredibly meaningful in what it manages to pack into such a limited space.Ī macabre tale, peopled with fragile minds, heightened psychosis and fuelled by massive hypochondria set in a bleak environment in a dark and dilapidated mansion that adds fuel to an already overburdened mind.
I can read a book like this with almost a voice over running inside my head as though I’m being told the tale (like one of those old movies that starts off with a voice over – there’s just something so story time about it!). The tone of the writing, which no doubt appears flowery and excessive compared to modern books, is actually a style that I love to revisit. I would probably say that whilst I don’t find this as creepy as I did on my first read, and I also don’t imagine many horror readers in this age will find it scary, it still has a fantastically gothic feel. I think having read this in what I like to consider my ‘romantic’ years – in that I now romanticise all of those books and love them unconditionally – it was good to go back and check this out to see how I feel about it now. I won’t go any further in terms of the plot as this is only a short story.įor me this was a reread, and on top of that I have also seen the Vincent Price movie and read a re-imagining of the story called The Fall by Bethany Griffin. Even though the two are best friends they haven’t seen each other for many years and so it comes as a surprise to the narrator to find Roderick in such a poor condition! It comes as an even greater surprise to find that he has a twin sister who herself seems to be suffering from a severe condition and in fact dies within days of the narrator’s arrival and is placed in a tomb in the cellars of the Usher Mansion. The whys and wherefores of this are never discussed but clearly the family seems to be doomed or cursed – or at least they believe themselves to be so!Īt the start of the story the narrator is asked to visit his friend Roderick who believes himself to be terminally ill. The premise of the story is the failing line of the House of Usher. The book is only a short story, probably about 50 pages and originally published in 1839 is considered to be one of Poe’s most famous works and a perfect example of his ability to make every sentence and reference meaningful. The Fall of the House of Usher is one of the books from my classic club list and is also probably one of those books where most people are already more than familiar with the story.
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