Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Fall Of The House Of Usher.
Released on Netflix earlier this week, The Fall Of The House of Usher looks set to be the newest spooky obsession for viewers around the globe
Created by Mike Flanagan – the mind behind the terrifying Haunting Of Hill House – the gothic tale follows a pharmaceutical dynasty that will let nothing stand in their way of success.
Nothing, that is, except death.
The miniseries stars a cast of heavy-hitters like Star Wars legend Mark Hamill, The Haunting Of Hill House’s Carla Gugin, with its official synopsis teasing: “The CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company faces his questionable past when his children start dying in mysterious and brutal ways.”
But what you might not realise is that the new show is a modern reimagining of a classic story. So, what was The Fall Of The House Of Usher inspired by?
What is The Fall of the House of Usher based on?
Netflix’s most sinister new addition takes inspiration from famed gothic author Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 gothic short story by the same name.
Although Netflix’s version has been undeniably modernised – suffice to say, there were no pharmaceutical mavens in the original story – the key themes remain identifiable.
In the short story, an unknown narrator arrives at the house of a family friend, Roderick Usher, who has sent them a letter after falling ill. It’s revealed that Madeline (Roderick’s sister) is also ill.
There’s a lot that goes on over the course of the story, but to sum it all up for you, Madeline eventually dies and is placed in the family tomb (because we’ve all got one of those, right) on Roderick’s insistence, before she’s set to be properly buried.
All the while, a crack down the centre of the house – the house of Usher, see what they did there? – begins growing wider.
The plot comes to a head when Roderick ends up being driven entirely mad and going on a violent rampage. As if all that wasn’t scary enough, Madeline – bloody and bruised, but crucially not dead – rises from her tomb.
It’s enough to scare Roderick, quite literally, to death – and shortly after, Madeline dies for real, too. The crack in the house then widens even further, splitting the entire building in two and washing it away into a nearby lake.
Gruesome, right?
How has Netflix adapted the classic tale?
Mike Flanagan has taken a few creative liberties with the original Fall of the House of Usher story, by placing its characters in the modern day and adding in various heirs of Roderick and Madeline, all of whom also meet their grisly demise.
This shifts the focus from Roderick and Madeline – who, in the Netflix series, are the corrupt CEO and COO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals – to the wider family.
Netflix’s version of The Fall of the House of Usher also introduces a new character called Verna (an anagram of Raven, a popular Poe trope), who is “a mysterious stranger from the Usher twins’ past who preys on the heirs of their family”.
Why has this Netflix version expanded the Usher family?
The short answer is so Flanagan could inject extra Poe references into his miniseries – the long answer is so that the six heirs of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals could each have an episode dedicated to showing viewers how they died, like a gothic Final Destination.
What’s more, each of their deaths are inspired by a different Edgar Allan Poe work.
For example, the show’s second episode updates the short story The Masque Of the Red Death. In the original, the plot focused on a masked ball that took place for wealthy individuals in a palace while less fortunate individuals perished outside.
In the Netflix series, the setting has been updated to an underground rave – with one of the heirs to Fortunato, socialite and rave organiser Perry, perishing by the end of the episode due to his father’s greed.
Other examples include episode three’s adaptation of Poe’s Murder In The Rue Morgue and The Black Cat, which is adapted for episode four.
The season’s final episode is called The Raven – and fans won’t be surprised to know that Flanagan’s modern twist involves the mysterious character of Verna.
When to watch The Fall Of The House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher is available to stream now on Netflix. Watch the super unsettling trailer below: