The Fall of the House of Usher: The Edgar Allan Poe story that inspired new Netflix horror

New Mike Flanagan horror series is inspired by Poe’s 1839 short story of the same name

Mike Flanagan’s highly anticipated new horror series, The Fall of the House of Usher, has arrived on Netflix.

The eight-episode drama follows Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), the CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company, who must face his murky past when each of his children begin to die in mysterious and brutal fashion.

Meanwhile, Carla Gugino plays Verna, a shape-shifting demon capable of recreating “ghosts” from other people’s pasts.

The series is not an original story from Flanagan, the American filmmaker known for his horror series like The Haunting of Hill House (2018), Midnight Mass (2021) and his big-screen Stephen King adaptation, Doctor Sleep (2019) starring Ewan McGregor.

The Fall of the House of Usher is based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name, first published in 1839.

Poe has been described as the father of Gothic literature and achieved national recognition in his era with the 1845 publication of his most famous poem, The Raven.

What is ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ about?

Carla Gugino as Verna in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ (EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX)

In Poe’s story, The Fall of the House of Usher follows an unnamed narrator who is called to the country home of his friend Roderick Usher who is unwell.

It is revealed that Roderick’s sister, Madeline, is also deathly ill and falls into cataleptic trances. Tragedy strikes when Madeline dies and Roderick insists that she be entombed for two weeks in the family tomb located in the house before being permanently buried.

The narrator and Roderick then become increasingly agitated over the next couple of weeks, culminating in a tremendous storm that drives Roderick into a fit of madness.

While attempting to calm Roderick in his bedroom, the door is blown open to reveal the bloodied body of Madeline who it transpires had been buried alive. She attacks her brother, scaring him to death while she too expires.

The narrator escapes the house and turns back to see it splitting in two and falling into the adjacent lake.

Henry Thomas as Frederick Usher in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ (RICARDO HUBBS/NETFLIX)

How does the new Netflix series differ from Poe’s short story?

Flanagan has put a modern twist on the story, setting his adaptation in the present day. He has also introduced a host of new characters to the tale, all inspired by other works of Poe’s.

For instance, fans have pointed out that Gugino’s character, Verna, is an anagram of Raven.

In the series, Roderick tells his companion about the tragic deaths of his family; each episode explains how a different member came to die, each inspired by different short stories written by Poe.

The second episode, for example, is inspired by Poe’s 1842 tale The Masque of the Red Death, which follows a ball held by wealthy socialites while a plague infects the masses outside. However, in the Netflix series, the story has been updated to take place in an underground rave.

(From left) Aya Furukawa as Tina, Kate Siegel as Camille L’Espanaye, Igby Rigney as Toby in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ (EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX)

The final episode in the series is titled “The Raven” and features a modern twist on the classic poem about a man being tormented by the bird.

Mary McDonnell plays Madeline; Flanagan favourite Kate Siegel plays Camille L’Espanaye, the family’s crisis PR agent; another Flanagan regular Henry Thomas plays Frederick Usher, the family’s presumptive heir; Samantha Sloyan plays Tamerlane Usher; Rahul Kohli is Napoleon “Leo” Usher.

Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T’Nia Miller, Paola Nuñez, Kyleigh Curran, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel, Ruth Codd, Annabeth Gish, Igby Rigney and Robert Longstreet also star.

“It’s bats*** crazy in the best possible way. It has quite a lot of very dark humor, but also really touches the soul,” Gugino said in a statement written during production before SAG-AFTRA went on strike. “There is a fantastical supernatural element to the story, and [Verna] is the manifestation of that. You could say she’s the executor of fate or the executor of karma.”

The Fall of the House of Usher is out now on Netflix.