The Fall of the House of Usher - A Sense of Insufferable Gloom

Mike Flanagan is undoubtedly one of the best gothic television series makers of the contemporary industry. Flanagan’s The Haunting series, The Midnight Club and Midnight Mass are the much praised examples of his style and work. Adding to his finest collection is his adaptation of Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”.

Divided into 8 episodes the series is a brilliant and modern tribute to Poe’s most celebrated short story. While Poe’s story of Usher remains the heart of the series, it is unified to the body by attaching different organs based on other works of Poe including The Masque of the Red Death, Murder in the Rue Morgue, The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Raven, and many more. The nefarious Patriarch of the Usher family, Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), whose legacy is maintained through his several wicked and selfish children , his equally ruthless twin sister Madeline (Mary McDonnell) who is loyal towards her brother and their opiate empire Fortunato and the investigator C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly), who serves as the recurring character in Poe’s stories , and the ever masquerading supernatural figure Verna (Carla Gugino) are the main characters of Flanagan’s series.

As Roderick narrates his story and the bizarre and terrifying fate of his children and his part in it to Dupin, Flanagan plays with guilt, obsession and vengeance with his favourite actors. Without much jump scares, the series presents the eerie and bloody deaths in the dysfunctional Usher family as a result of their own moral corruption and obsession which eventually results in the fall of the dynasty. The viewers get to feel the constant presence of death hovering over each episode that has come to take what’s due from a family that profited off the pain of others.

Just like Poe, Flanagan uses gothic to explain the psychological thinking of the characters who lack morality and human values. Flanagan’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is an excellent amalgamation of Poe’s works and its characteristics with a great ensemble and is indeed a treat to the fans of his other shows.

Comments

My Tagless Name

(Written as a part of International Women's Day 2018. This poem was published in Delhi Poetry Slam on March 15 2018.) I'm Beautiful. But, I'm called inferior, I'm a Housewife. I'm called a bitch, I'm a Whore. I'm named as powerless, I'm the Company CEO. I'm called the blabbering witch, I'm a Grandma. I'm called careless I'm a Nurse. I'm known as no sex, I'm a Trans. I'm termed as the backward, I'm an Indian. I may not be fond of men, But that doesn't define me. I cannot be reduced to a column in an application form. My hands and legs are exuberant enough to do sundry duties. I change my cloaks several times, and hide in tangled forests, expecting your empty handed return. My ugliness laughs at your hollowness as I bath in the Blue Sea. I walk around the globe and touch your horoscopic stars. I tread through your ways , the prisoner light breaks its shackles and encroaches my body.

SHE

She was a girl of little importance.. She was not a damsel or a princess. But there was fire in her eyes. The fire of determination. Fire of dreams to be fullfilled. She never saw it ,but others did. But others never understood it ,but she did. She always dreamt of her future prince. Her shining eyes and glossy lips always waited for the arrival of her prince. One day. She met her prince,the charming one who came on white horse, she believed destiny made them meet, And she prayed let the same destiny unite them!! Days passed. Everyday she saw him. But she was afraid to come out of her shell. Another day. As she walked, he came. He walked towards her. she paused. As he reached closer her heart wrenched from its seat. And now there is no distance between them. He smiled and reached for her lips. she closed her eyes. They kissed. It was deep. He looked at her. She tried to be normal.. But there was nothing normal around her .

THE DREAMCATCHER ( A Poem)

She tried. And made the hoops from willows to wove those magical webs. Wrapped the hoop with suede lacing. The string was woven onto the hoop. Hours passed. She wove some of her favourite decorations to it. Feathers and gemstones, hidden with meanings. Hours passed. But she wanted it to be perfect. And finally, here it is. THE DREAMCATCHER. She hung it on her bedroom wall and watched it carefully. Rubbed it with an artist's pride. The hoop smiled, ensuring the travel of sun through the mighty sky. She thought that when night comes the hole in the center would only let Bawedjige( good dreams)pass. She would be able to sleep safe and sound today. The nightmares will never ever haunt her. For she has her Dreamcatcher. And Bawedjigewin( bad dreams) will be trapped in the web, to be dispelled at the first light of morning. She slept. The sun rays pierced into her eyes. She opened her eyes with the innocence of a newborn babe. The thought stroke her. She

THE FORGOTTEN STORIES

Search This Blog