The Haunting of Usher: Unveiling Mike Flanagan’s Terrifying New Netflix Horror Series

Summary

Mike Flanagan's upcoming series, The Fall of the House of Usher, is an exciting adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic short story.

The show will take place in the present time, featuring a corrupt pharmaceutical company's CEO confronting his questionable history. Flanagan's version will integrate different Poe stories, and Carla Gugino will portray a demonic shapeshifter character.

Mike Flanagan's upcoming series, The Fall of the House of Usher, is Netflix's most anticipated and thrilling project. For those unfamiliar with the source material, the series is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic masterpiece. Flanagan, known for his successful adaptations of beloved novels such as The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald's Game, and The Midnight Club, will bring his unique filmmaking style to this classic work. In The Fall of the House of Usher, Flanagan puts his own twist on the story, promising a fresh and captivating viewing experience.

Edgar Allen Poe's Fall Of The House Of Usher Short Story Explained

The series takes its name from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," a short story published in 1839. Flanagan's adaptation on Netflix is set in the present-day, whereas the original story is rooted in the past. The narrative commences with an unnamed protagonist receiving an invitation from his childhood friend Roderick Usher, who is in poor health, to visit the decaying Usher House along with Roderick's sister, Madeline. Madeline is also afflicted by an unidentified ailment, and the protagonist arrives in an attempt to aid the remaining descendants of the Usher family.

Roderick firmly believes that both his deteriorating condition and Madeline's descent into madness are linked to the mansion. Despite the protagonist's attempts to convince him otherwise, Roderick remains adamant in his belief. Tragically, Madeline passes away under mysterious circumstances, her demise remaining unexamined before being laid to rest in the family tomb. As days pass, Roderick's anxiety intensifies alongside his growing conviction that Madeline was buried alive. The protagonist himself experiences unease as he hears eerie noises emanating from the walls of the aged edifice, compounded by the stormy climate. Ultimately, the tale concludes in ruin, as is often the case in Poe's stories, delving into themes of death, entombment, madness, and haunting secrets.

Mike Flanagan's Netflix Show Incorporates Various Other Edgar Allen Poe Short Stories

The Netflix series will not directly adapt "The Fall of the House of Usher." Instead, it offers a modernized story where the CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company confronts his questionable past as his children mysteriously and brutally die. This differs greatly from the original background of the story. While Poe's short story serves as the core narrative of the series, the Mike Flanagan version intends to incorporate various other works by Edgar Allen Poe, creating an anthology of interconnected tales.

Certain observant fans may have already deduced this, as most characters are named after famous characters from Poe's other works. For example, Katie Parker's character is named Annabel Lee, after the poem of the same name, and Kate Siegel's character is Camille L'Espanaye from "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Carla Gugino's character, Verna, acts as a unifying force, being a demonic shapeshifter and a reinterpretation of Poe's renowned character, the Raven. Gugino explains, "There is a fantastical supernatural element to the story, and she is the manifestation of that. You could say she’s the executor of fate or the executor of karma." Netflix's first poster for The Fall of the House of Usher hints at this, featuring a closeup of Gugino's character with a mask resembling a raven's skull obscuring half of her face.

Mike Flanagan's Previous Netflix TV Shows Hint At Exciting Original Story Twists

Other surprises and twists are likely to be in store, even for those familiar with Edgar Allan Poe's works. Flanagan's previous adaptations for Netflix have always taken a loose approach to the original story, using it as a starting point rather than following it strictly. The Midnight Club, Flanagan's most recent Netflix work, deviated from Christopher Pike's book while retaining its core story of teenagers with terminal illnesses gathering to tell stories. The story-within-a-story structure allowed Flanagan to incorporate stories from other Pike books into the TV series, just as he plans to do with The Fall of the House of Usher.

Flanagan has a keen sense of when to make changes to the source material, and his twists often have a more powerful emotional impact than the original books. It would be wise for him to focus on the psychological complexity of the characters and their trauma, as he usually does. Poe's Gothic sensibilities can be too exaggerated for modern audiences, making it a challenge to capture his obsession with madness and the dark intensity of his writing without becoming overly melodramatic. Flanagan's modern changes to Poe's work, along with the reported injection of dark humor, can help strike a balance and transform The Fall of the House of Usher into a modern horror masterpiece.

Is The Fall Of The House Of Usher Connected To Mike Flanagan's Other Netflix TV Shows?

Flanagan's series, including the Haunting series of Hill House and Bly Manor, are not directly connected to each other. However, there are subtle Easter eggs and references shared among some of Mike Flanagan's works. For instance, in the 2016 film Hush, the character Sarah is seen with a book called Midnight Mass, written by protagonist Maggie. She mentions her affection for Riley and Erin. The fictional book mentions Crocket Island as the setting and hints at Riley's confrontation with a terrifying secret. Five years later, Midnight Mass became its own series, with protagonist Riley and his reignited relationship with Erin. The same fictional book, Midnight Mass, also briefly appears in the movie Gerald's Game when thrown by the main character, Jessie.

It is unclear whether there will be any Midnight Mass references in The Fall of the House of Usher, a series inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Due to the stark differences in storytelling, it would be challenging to seamlessly incorporate connections to Flanagan's other movies and TV shows. Even if he had intended to feature the Midnight Mass book in a background scene of the upcoming series, it would not have been possible. According to Flanagan's statement to EW, he had aimed to include the prop in a scene of The Haunting of Hill House, but the box containing the prop books went missing during shipping to Atlanta.

In The Fall of the House of Usher, there is a significant common thread shared with Mike Flanagan's other works: the actors. A remarkable total of 21 Flanagan actors will be reprising their roles in House of Usher, solidifying the strongest and most unmistakable link to Flanagan's other Netflix series and movies. While the upcoming series may not have a direct narrative connection to Flanagan's other shows, the abundance of familiar faces will effectively maintain the sense that all of Mike Flanagan's projects exist within a loosely interconnected universe.