The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Summoned by a childhood friend, the narrator visits the decaying mansion of Roderick Usher, whose twin sister Madeline is buried alive, until house and family collapse together.
The story
The narrator finds Roderick Usher nervous, sensitive to every sound and light, and his sister Madeline wasting away from a mysterious illness. When she seems to die, they place her in a vault in the house.
On a stormy night, as the narrator reads aloud an old romance, sounds echo through the house; Madeline appears in her bloodstained shroud and falls on her brother. The narrator flees as the house splits and sinks into the tarn.
Atmosphere
The story is a model of Poe's theory of the single effect: every detail, from the cracked façade to the dark tarn, serves a mood of dread.
It contains Usher's poem The Haunted Palace, which Poe had published separately earlier in 1839.
Afterlife
First published in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in September 1839, it was included in Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque the following year.
Debussy worked for years on an opera based on the story, which he left unfinished; Jean Epstein filmed it in 1928, and Roger Corman in 1960.
Anecdotes
Debussy's obsession
Debussy worked on his opera La Chute de la maison Usher from 1908 until his death, identifying with Roderick; fragments were reconstructed and performed in the 1970s.
A house as a person
The word house in the title means both the mansion and the family, and Poe describes the building like a face, with eye-like windows.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to Madeline Usher?
She is buried alive in the vault and returns on a stormy night.
What is The Haunted Palace?
A poem by Poe included in the story as one of Roderick Usher's songs.
When was the story published?
In September 1839, in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine.