THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER: All the References to Edgar Allan Poe's Works

Mike Flanagan‘s latest horror series, The Fall of the House of Usher, took Netflix by storm last week. It’s also his last show with the streamer as he makes the move to Prime Video. Flanagan’s work is a gorgeously dark tribute to Gothic horror, chock full of references and imagery to writer Edgar Allan Poe‘s vast catalog of macabre stories and poetry.

In honor of this well-acted, well-constructed series (perfect for Spooky Season), here are all the nods (or as many as I could find) to Poe’s works in The Fall of the House of Usher.

Character Names

The Usher Family

Roderick — This one’s pretty easy. Roderick (Bruce Greenwood/Zach Gilford) exists in Poe’s 1839 short story, The Fall of the House of Usher. In said story, he invites an unnamed narrator to his house. Naturally, things take a turn for the spooky, as is Poe’s modus operandi.

Madeline — Madeline (Mary McDonnell/Willa Fitzgerald) is Roderick’s twin sister who also kills her brother for prematurely entombing her in Poe’s tale before dying herself.

Frederick — “Froderick” (Henry Thomas) is presumably named after the main character in Poe’s first short story to be published, 1832’s Metzengerstein: A Tale in Imitation of the German. Frederick, Baron of Metzengerstein, is the only surviving member of his family. However, the Metzengerstein clan effectively dies out by the narrative’s end.

Tamerlane stands on her bed while holding a fire poker as a green light washes over the room in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 6, "Goldbug."

Tamerlane — Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan) gets her name from the titular character in Poe’s 1827 poem, Tamerlane. Tamerlane was a real-life Turco-Mongol conqueror. In Poe’s work, Tamerlane forgoes love for power. Sound familiar?

Victorine — Victorine (T’Nia Miller) hails from Poe’s 1844 short story, The Premature Burial. In it, Victorine marries a wealthy man and dies unhappy. However, her true love, Julien, discovers she’s alive while mourning her at her grave.

Napoleon — Napoleon (Rahul Kohli) gets his name from one of Poe’s rare comedic short stories — 1844’s The Spectacles. It follows a 22-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte Froissart who realizes the woman he’s pining for doesn’t fit his physical beauty standards once he puts on his spectacles. Yeah … this one didn’t age well. It’s a product of its time, I suppose.

Camille — Camille (Kate Siegel) is named after a murder victim in Poe’s 1841 short story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Camille, along with her mother, is found dead in her home. C. Auguste Dupin investigates the case. It even has a primate, although it’s an orangutan here, not a chimpanzee.

Prospero — Prospero (Sauriyan Sapkota) hails from Poe’s 1842 short story, The Masque of the Red Death. Instead of death by acid sprinklers, the attendees of Prospero’s masquerade ball succumb to the “Red Death,” a plague.

Juno — Juno’s (Ruth Codd) origins are a bit murky. This is purely speculative, but I believe her name comes from Poe’s Eureka: A Prose Poem, the writer’s longest and last major work. Published in 1848, this poem mentions several asteroids, Juno being one of them.

Verna sits behind Juno in the audience for Tamerlane's product launch in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 6, "Goldbug."

Lenore — Our sweet baby Lenore (Kyliegh Curran), who didn’t deserve to die, is named after Poe’s 1843 poem of the same title. It even has the same feel of how Roderick describes his granddaughter as “the best” of the Ushers and an angel too pure for this world.

Morella — Morella (Crystal Balint) gets her name from Poe’s short story, Morella. In it, Morella dies in childbirth and has a daughter who looks remarkably like her as she ages.

Eliza — Eliza’s (Annabeth Gish) name comes from Poe’s real-life mother, Eliza. She was an English actress. Unfortunately, she died around 24 from what is assumed to be tuberculosis. Fun fact: fellow actors Mr. and Mrs. Usher took care of Poe and his siblings while Eliza was sick. They’re presumed to be the inspiration for The Fall of the House of Usher.

Non-Ushers

C. Auguste Dupin — C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly/Malcolm Goodwin) gets his name from a Poe character who appears in a handful of short stories. The intrepid detective debuted in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, with subsequent appearances in 1842’s The Mystery of Marie Rogêt and 1844’s The Purloined Letter.

Arthur Pym — Arthur Pym (Mark Hamill) appears in Poe’s only completed novel, 1838’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Pym stows aboard a whaling ship called Grampus (Lenore’s nickname for Roderick). The novel boasts plenty of sea adventures and a smattering of cannibalism.

C. Auguste Dupin and Roderick Usher sit across from each other in front of a fire at night in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 1, "A Midnight Dreary."

Annabel Lee — Roderick recites this poem quite a bit in the series. Annabel Lee (Katie Parker) is named after Poe’s final 1849 poem. There’s speculation that Poe’s wife, who passed away two years before him, inspired the piece.

Dr. Alessandra Ruiz — Dr. Alessandra Ruiz (Paola Núñez) gets her name from Poe’s only known play, Politian, written in 1835 but never finished. Alessandra, one of the main characters, becomes engaged to her cousin Castiglione.

Rufus Griswold — Rufus Griswold (Michael Trucco) is named after Poe’s real-life rival, Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Their rivalry ran so deep that Griswold published a scathing obituary for Poe after the latter’s death. He also endeavored to tank Poe’s reputation until his passing eight years later.

William Longfellow — William Longfellow (Robert Longstreet) also gets his name from a real person. You might know him as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet, educator and one of Poe’s contemporaries. At one point, Poe accused Longfellow of plagiarism.

Julius — Julius (Daniel Jun) is presumably named after The Journal of Julius Rodman, Poe’s unfinished serial novel published in 1840.

William ‘Bill-T’ Wilson — Bill-T (Matt Biedel) got his name from Poe’s 1839 short story, William Wilson. Interestingly, a “large mirror” appears to the main character, William Wilson, in said story. Remember when Tamerlane essentially died from a mirror?

Verna — I saved the best for last. “Verna” (Carla Gugino) is an anagram for “Raven.” The Raven, Poe’s seminal poem from 1845, is not only an episode title but also bleeds into much of this series, from various imagery to Verna’s presence.

Verna wears a black suit with a black fedora while standing outside in a crowd in front of a courthouse in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 8, "The Raven."

Episode Titles and More References

“A Midnight Dreary” (Episode 1)

This is a nod to the opening line from Poe’s The Raven. “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…” In this outing, we also get multiple shots of a raven, from the mantle above the fireplace in Roderick’s dilapidated childhood home to the shelving in Verna’s bar in 1979 to outside the courthouse in the present. That’s not all: we see a raven and a black cat in the stained glass in Verna’s bar (the latter is a nod to Poe’s 1843 short story, The Black Cat).

Additionally, Eliza coming back to life to kill Longfellow is a reference to the events in Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, with Madeline murdering her brother.

Fortunato Pharmaceuticals is named after the character Fortunato in Poe’s 1846 short story, The Cask of Amontillado.

“The Masque of the Red Death” (Episode 2)

You guessed it — Prospero’s swan song is named after one of Poe’s most famous works. This episode drops a mention of the R.U.E. Clinical Research, a nod to The Murders in the Rue Morgue. In addition, Prospero spotting the woman in red (Verna) on top of the Fortunato Pharmaceuticals condemned building is a fun foreshadowing of the “Red Death” that kills everyone at the nightclub.

The various-colored rooms from the short story appear for almost every Usher’s death in the series. The room Verna sits in when she chats with Prospero, aka Perry, is a deep red (representing death), while we also see the club floor in blue (birth).

Camille and Prospero sit in a courtroom while looking focused in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 1, "A Midnight Dreary."

“Murder in the Rue Morgue” (Episode 3)

This outing discloses the name of Tamerlane’s lifestyle company, Goldbug, which references Poe’s 1843 short story, The Gold-Bug. When we get to Camille’s death at R.U.E. Clinical Research, the room is cast in a white light with blue undertones (representing a mix of old age and birth, according to the symbolism of The Masque of the Red Death). As mentioned above, Camille dies from a chimpanzee attack, not an orangutan.

“The Black Cat” (Episode 4)

Firstly, Julius’ cat has the same name as the feline in Poe’s short story — Pluto. Obviously, the episode title is that story’s title verbatim. When Napoleon, aka Leo, finds Verna’s “corpse” in the wall with the cat, it’s a direct nod to artist Byam Shaw’s 20th-century artwork and a narrative plot point in Poe’s piece. When he dies, there’s a yellowish light in his apartment. While none of The Masque of the Red Death rooms are yellow, the closest to that is orange, representing adulthood.

Victorine sits on a couch while talking on her phone with a laptop next to her in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 3, "Murder in the Rue Morgue."

“The Tell-Tale Heart” (Episode 5)

This episode is named after Poe’s 1843 short story, The Tell-Tale Heart (1843 was a prolific year for him). During Perry/Camille/Leo’s funeral service, the priest recites Poe’s Spirits of the Dead poem. He also does this in the first episode for Victorine/Tamerlane/Frederick’s service. As for poor Victorine’s death, the room is cast in a red/orange light.

“Goldbug” (Episode 6)

As I mentioned earlier, this is named after The Gold-Bug. In the short story, the main character fixates on a gold-colored bug he discovered. Tamerlane’s company boasts a gold bug for the logo. During her final moments, we see her bedroom awash in a green light, representing adolescence.

“The Pit and the Pendulum” (Episode 7)

This outing gets its name from Poe’s 1842 short story, The Pit and the Pendulum. Freddie dies as the condemned building is being demolished. We see hanging metal swinging back and forth like a pendulum (a nod to the story), slowly lowering toward him. It inevitably slices him open. The room boasts a bluish/purple light, perhaps representing an amalgam of birth and imminent death.

Verna also recites lines from Poe’s poem, The City in the Sea, published in its final form in 1845. It certainly foreshadows how Death will take the remaining members of the Usher clan.

Julius watches in the background while Leo stands in his apartment in a robe and screams in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 4, "The Black Cat."

“The Raven” (Episode 8)

Another reference to The Raven! For starters, the series finale has a lot of recitations from Annabel Lee, The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Additionally, we see the raven sitting on a bust of Pallas in Roderick’s home. “Perched upon the bust of Pallas just above my chamber door…” We hear Roderick recite some lines from The Raven following Lenore’s death. This makes sense, considering that Lenore is mentioned a handful of times in the poem.

The Cask of Amontillado plays a significant role in Roderick and Madeline’s move to seize control of Fortunato. They entomb Rufus in a brick wall like Montresor lures Fortunato with amontillado to the family vaults. If you recall, Madeline seduces Rufus, bringing him to the basement, where she poisons him with amontillado. (The usage of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” from the pilot’s opening moments is a delightful foreshadowing.)

Later in the episode, Roderick reveals the incessant texts from Lenore are actually from a bot Madeline created from Lenore’s online information. The Lenore bot simply sends Roderick the word “Nevermore” in all caps.

Lastly, Madeline and Roderick’s deaths feel like a full-circle moment compared to Eliza and Longfellow’s passing in the premiere. Of course, as mentioned above, Madeline kills Roderick in the short story. It even pulls a similar plot point from Poe’s work — Dupin runs out of the Ushers’ decaying childhood home as it crashes to the ground, becoming a pile of debris. However, in the short story, the house sinks into a lake.

What references to Poe’s works did you notice in this series? Which episode is your favorite? Sound off in the comments below!

The Fall of the House of Usher is now streaming on Netflix.

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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.

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