Gothic Horror - Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher

I've decided to do away with the Gothic and Horror Master posts, as no one (including me) utilizes them. For a wider audience's sake (if I have a wide audience...lol), I will do individual posts and anyone is welcome to discuss in the comments and/or share stories you've been reading.

BEWARE OF SPOILERS AHEAD

This is one of my favorite Poe stories. Probably in large part due to my love of Vincent Price and having seen the movie long before I read the story (I've read this many times). Of course, I can also credit Price with sparking my entire love of and fascination with Poe's works. I've read and reread so many of his stories, and my favorite poem of all time, Annabel Lee.

At the center of this story, in my humble opinion, is mental illness, and some of the factors that can bring about "madness" as they called it back then. Fear, dread, guilt. All are apparent and so expertly illustrated in Poe's Gothic tones. Also, the fear of being buried alive (Taphophobia), which was prevalent in the days before modern medicine. So much so that in the 18th and 19th centuries there were "Safety Coffins." William Tebb and Edward Perry Vollum even published a book titled Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented. There were coffins affixed with a string attached to a bell outside the grave. If a person found themselves buried alive, they could simply ring the bell (surely not so simple, and how many of those bells were actually heard...yikes!). Later inventions were more elaborate. (Read the entire article on Tebb's book and the various inventions here.)

SPOILER

So, why am I talking about premature burial? Precisely because that is what happens to Usher's sister. But for her there is no escape because she is not buried in a grave. She is entombed in a vault in the donjon keep! There is no bell for her to ring, or some other apparatus to make someone aware. Yet, when she somehow finally breaks free from her tomb, we learn that Usher had heard her..."I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin. I heard them--many, many days ago--yet I dared not--I dared not speak!" Why did he not speak up? Was it the guilt of burying her alive in the first place? Who knows, but she does manage to break out and the state of her, of what she endured, scares Usher to death. As Usher's friend flees, the house literally cracks apart and falls into the ground. A metaphor for the destruction of mental illness, and the fear of death? Those are my thoughts anyway. 

The reason I wanted to read this story again is because one of my favorite horror (TV) series creators is bringing a new take on the story to Netflix. Mike Flanagan, the mastermind behind The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, does it again with "A contemporary horror series based on multiple works by Edgar Allan Poe. To secure their fortune — and future — two ruthless siblings build a family dynasty that begins to crumble when their heirs mysteriously die, one by one." 

Here's a short trailer. Get ready to watch...the series premiere is October 12. 

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