“The Fall of the House of Usher” is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839. It includes themes of madness, family, isolation, and metaphysical identities.
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Ethan Powell, a devoted friend, answers an urgent call from a childhood pal. He discovers himself the only visitor at the menacing, mysterious Usher house. Roderick Usher, the lord of the manor, is suffering from an enigmatic illness that has defied all attempts at therapy and poses a threat to the future of the Usher family. Powell is faced with a darker mystery, and the more he digs, the more horrific and obscure the reality appears to be.