Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher Is an Eight-Part Netflix Gothic Thriller

Mike Flanagan has brought several horror stories to Netflix, adapting work by writers including Shirley Jackson and Henry James. His most inventive series, though, draws on the work of Edgar Allan Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher.

Flanagan began his Netflix run with The Haunting of Hill House, based on Jackson’s novel, and followed it with The Haunting of Bly Manor, inspired by James’s novella The Turn of the Screw. He also created the original series Midnight Mass and adapted Christopher Pike’s The Midnight Club. ([netflix.com](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/midnight-club-cast-book-release-date?inapp=trueOs&utm_source=openai))

The Fall of the House of Usher brings several of Poe’s Gothic stories together around the decline of one family. Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) recounts the family’s crimes to assistant US attorney C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly) in Roderick’s decaying childhood home. His sister Madeline is played by Mary McDonnell. Across eight episodes, the series weaves Poe’s work into the Ushers’ story. ([netflix.com](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-episode-1-recap?utm_source=openai))

Mike Flanagan’s Edgar Allan Poe Series

Recognizing the Poe stories as they emerge is part of the pleasure. The Cask of Amontillado brings to mind its vivid image of a man being sealed behind a brick wall, while Verna (Carla Gugino) evokes The Raven.

Flanagan takes a similar approach to Stephen King’s work in his Prime Video series Carrie. The adaptation incorporates the concept of shining from The Shining, a later King novel, into the story of Carrie, which was published in 1974. ([televisionacademy.com](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/online-originals/mike-flanagan-carrie-prime-video?utm_source=openai))

In The Fall of the House of Usher, Flanagan uses Poe’s distinct stories to trace the loss of the Usher family’s power. The series also features actors familiar from his other work, including Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Midnight Mass star Zach Gilford, Henry Thomas and T’Nia Miller, alongside Mark Hamill.

The performances help the different stories feel like a single, coherent tale. For the way it brings Poe’s horrors together, The Fall of the House of Usher stands out as Flanagan’s best Netflix series.

Source: Polygon