The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839. It tells the story of the Usher family, a once-great and wealthy family that has fallen into decline. The narrator visits the Usher family estate, where he meets Roderick Usher, the last surviving member of the family. Roderick is a strange and melancholic man, and he tells the narrator of his family's curse, which he believes is responsible for their decline. The narrator soon discovers that the Usher family is haunted by a mysterious and malevolent force. Roderick's twin sister, Madeline, is also afflicted by the curse, and she soon dies. Roderick and the narrator attempt to bury her in the family crypt, but she returns from the grave and causes the house to collapse, killing Roderick in the process. The narrator escapes, and the Usher family is no more.
By Edgar Allan Poe · First published 1839 · Genre: Gothic Fiction, Romanticism, Horror · 7,333 words
First lines
During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was--but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasureable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.
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The Fall of the House of Usher is listed on Textopian as a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, dated 1839 CE.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Edgar Allan Poe
- Date: 1839 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Gothic Fiction, Romanticism, Horror, Mystery
- Length: 7,333 words
- Structure: 1 section, 88 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
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Discussion starters
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Similar titles
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- The Familiar by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
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- The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
- The Murders In The Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Genres
- Gothic Fiction — The Fall of the House of Usher is a classic example of Gothic fiction, with its dark and mysterious setting, supernatural elements, and themes of death and decay.
- Romanticism — The Fall of the House of Usher is a prime example of Romanticism, with its focus on the power of the imagination, the sublime, and the emotions of fear and awe.
- Horror — The Fall of the House of Usher is a horror story, with its eerie atmosphere, supernatural elements, and themes of death and decay.
- Mystery — The Fall of the House of Usher is a mystery story, with its dark and mysterious setting, and its focus on the power of the imagination and the unknown.
Tags
Gothic fiction · Horror tales · Movie Books · Short stories · air · building · chamber · character · countenance · door · eye · family