Netflix’s The Fall of of the House of Usher is a terrifyingly good treat for this Friday 13th
The reviews are in and Netflix has a horror hit on its hands The Fall of the House of Usher. The show is “a gleefully terrifying take on Edgar Allen Poe,” says The Guardian, while Rolling Stone says it’s “a literary orgy of death,” which we think is a compliment. Variety says it’s “horrifying”, Metro says it’s “gripping” and IGN says it’s “some of Flanagan’s best work”.
Given that the Flanagan in question is Mike Flanagan The Ghost of Hill House fame, it was probably never a dud. But the reviews here are particularly raved about. Rolling Stone says it’s more elitist American horror story that has a lot in common with the brilliant The Ghost of Bly Manor. While that was a mashup of several books by Henry James, this time the monstrous mashup is made from the works of Edgar Allen Poe.
What is The Fall of the House of Usher about?
The titular Usher is Roderick Usher, whose adult children have died and whose death has wiped out the bloodline of his entire family. Usher lurks around a creepy mansion and tells his story to Auguste Dupin – supposedly the first fictional detective ever, but one of the very first. And it’s not a happy story: it’s about a miserable childhood, lots of creeps and lots of people for whom the best description is ‘cowardly’ – almost all of whom find themselves in increasingly difficult ends.
I like Rolling Stones description of it as a mix of “Poe’s greatest hits”, Succession And Dope sick. The cast is fantastic, the deaths are horrible, hilariously graphic and because it’s a Flanagan show you know you’re in for eight episodes of stuns, shocks, sharp writing and even sharper tools. As Empire puts it, it’s a “dark horror story that’s wickedly fun.”
The consensus is clear: If you’re looking for something terribly creepy to stream this Halloween, there’s no party like a The Fall of the House of Usher party.