"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by the American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in September 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. It was published again in a slightly modified form in
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by the American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in September 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. It was published again in a slightly modified form in Poe's 1840 anthology Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. The story includes the poem "The Haunted Palace" which Poe had previously had published separately in the April 1839 edition of the Baltimore Museum magazine.
The story takes place in an unnamed country, although references to peasants, feudalism and a centuries old house imply that it is not set in the United States. Roderick Usher and his sister Madeline are the only two surviving members of the aristocratic Usher family. For many years, they have lived together in the ancient mansion which is their ancestral family home. Madeline Usher has been ill for a long time and is not expected to live much longer. Partly due to his sister's illness and partly, he believes, due to the negative influence of the old mansion in which he lives, Roderick Usher has fallen into a deep melancholy. To help recover his spirits, he summons his old friend, the story's unnamed narrator, to come to visit him. Madeline Usher appears to die. Roderick has her body placed in a coffin and taken to a vault beneath the house. However, in the story's climax, it is revealed that Madeline was not yet dead when she was placed in the casket. The vengeful Madeline manages to escape from her coffin and the vault and goes in search of the brother responsible for her premature burial.
There have been numerous adaptations of the story to other media, the best known of which remains the 1960 film House of Usher, directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price.
The term "House of Usher" is commonly used to refer both to the Usher family and the ancient mansion which is their ancestral home. The Ushers have long been famed for their artistic skills, especially in music. Although they are an old family, the Ushers have never been a very large one and are now reduced to only two surviving members, Roderick Usher and his twin sister Madeline.
The story's unnamed narrator receives a letter from his childhood friend Roderick Usher. In his letter, Roderick explains that he is both physically ill and mentally troubled. He asks the narrator to visit him and help him recover his health. As the narrator approaches the Ushers' ancestral home, he begins to feel a deep sense of unease. He is troubled by the stagnant lake and dead trees that surround the house and by the appearance of the house itself. The house appears to be solid enough but its exterior is completely covered in fungus. A barely visible crack runs all the way down the front of the building.
As a result of his illness, Roderick Usher has changed so much since the narrator last saw him that he barely recognizes him. Roderick tells the narrator that a symptom of his illness is a heightening of his five senses. A change in his sense of taste means that he can only bear to eat the blandest of foods. A change in his sense of touch means that all but a few textiles feel uncomfortable next to his skin. His eyes have become extremely sensitive to light. He cannot stand the smell of flowers. His hearing has become heightened. Most music sounds awful to him. He can only stand to hear the guitar and a few other stringed instruments.
According to Roderick, his illness is partly a resul