If you’re yearning for some more horror binge-watching as October draws in, Mike Flanagan (the man behind The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass) has yet another horror series lined up. This new series will be based on the works of none other than Edgar Allan Poe, the literary legend who created both the American Gothic genre and the detective story.
Netflix has green-lit Mike Flanagan’s new limited series, The Fall of the House of Usher, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 short story of the same name. The platform announced that the series be based on the title story and other stories by Poe. Netflix isn’t providing any further details about the series, other than confirming that it will run for eight episodes. Flanagan will direct four of the episodes himself, while Michael Fimognari (the cinematographer for Hill House) will also direct four installments.
Although no release date has been announced, as the project is in its very early stages, Flanagan did Tweet that more information about the project would be coming “very soon”. Flanagan also posted excitedly about working on the new series.
The Fall of the House of Usher will be Flanagan’s fifth show for Netflix. However, this isn’t the first time he has based a series on a horror book. The Haunting series was an adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s book The Haunting of Hill House. The Haunting of Bly Manor was based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. In addition to The Fall of The House of Usher, Flanagan’s next series, The Midnight Club — which is expected to release in 2022 — is based on Christopher Pike’s 1994 YA novel of the same name
Who was Edgar Allan Poe and What Is ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ about?
As one of the most infamous writers and poets in American literature, Poe is praised for his unrivalled ability to evoke terror and thrill in his short stories, as well as construct beautifully haunting poems such as The Raven. His writing is characterised by gloomy and eerie settings, insane or murderous characters, and an overall tone of unease. Many of his stories are praised for being essential to so many elements of writing today. For example, his short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue initiated the modern detective story.
As for the plot of The Fall of the House of Usher, the tale follows an unnamed narrator who walks into a haunted house to visit his friend, Roderick Usher. Together they put Roderick’s dead sister, Madeline, in a family tomb, but —plot twist — she’s actually still alive. When she crawls out of the tomb to seek vengeance on her brother, the House of Usher literally falls apart and sinks into a lake.
You can hopefully expect the same suspense, tension, and terror from the Netflix adaptation of Poe’s story considering Flanagan is a master of crafting horror series. Horror fans worldwide agree that it’s about time someone took the leap to take Poe’s terrifying tales and put them on the screen.
