The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass maestro Mike Flanagan is (almost) back with his new series, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, as inspired by the 1839 Edgar Allen Poe short story. Do not expect a literal retelling of the original source material.
What can one expect? Expect to see some Poe-evoking ravens with a modern retelling that retains few events but carries the spirit from the original Poe offering. Also expect to see some Flanagan favorites within the cast, which includes Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Carl Lumbly, Michael Trucco, Paola Nuñez, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Annabeth Gish, and more, including a very theatrical Mark Hamill.
The Poe short story revolves around a narrator who is an old friend of Roderick Usher and arrives to keep him company after Madeleine Usher falls ill. At that time, the two reclusive siblings are the only members of the family who remain alive. Cue supernatural/haunting happenings and Roderick literally being scared to an extreme at one point with the house, presumably haunted, cracking and falling to pieces much like his mind.
In the Flanagan series, Carla Gugino will portray a figure from the past who arrives to terrorize and deliver consequences upon the Usher family, who is described as “a collection of stunted hearts.” The family might remind you of the Roys on Succession but with siblings Roderick and Madeleine having built their fortune from Fortunato Pharmaceuticals. In other words, get ready for the parable treatment of a certain epidemic, and of course, Flanagan will keep things spooky as hell.
The Fall Of The House Of Usher descends upon Netflix on October 12.