Review: The Fall of the House Usher

Fall of House of Usher
Fall of House of Usher

The Fall of the House Usher by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story, 36 pages, that even though I have not read the Tell Tale Heart I have to believe is super similar.  The story starts when the main character is invited to cheer up a childhood friend.  The main character visits the house Usher and a verbose amount of description starts about the house and how spooky and depressing it is.  Turns out his friend is all bummed because his sister is wasting away.

The sister dies after a long illness that the doctors can’t figure out.  They bury her under the main characters bedroom.  Weird right?  Of course she isn’t dead and comes after her brother.  She falls on him and I guess both are dead the main character who is telling us the story runs from the house scared out of his wits.

This story for me demonstrated how a whole great story can be told in only 36 pages.  Writing short stories can be hard, but Poe nails this one!