The Fall of the House of Usher promises to be a spooky — and bloody — masterpiece with creator Mike Flanagan using Edgar Allan Poe’s legendary stories as the backdrop for a fictional family’s downfall.
In Us Weekly’s exclusive clip from the Netflix miniseries, which starts streaming on Thursday, October 12, Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) is covered in blood after his fourth child is mysteriously killed. His twin sister, Madeline Usher (Mary McDonnell), uses the opportunity to remind Roderick what is at stake.
“Four deaths in a row is not a coincidence. We don’t need to know how it is happening to know it’s happening,” McDonnell’s character says as Greenwood’s character attempts to face the facts. “We are under attack and if that doesn’t snap you out of this [then] remember Vic [T’Nia Miller] had a board’s seat [within the company]. Now you’re listening.”
Madeline explains to Roderick that they don’t have much time left before their empire comes crashing down.
“Has it not occurred to you that if these coincidences keep happening [then] the family fire wall — that you always talked about — is being dismantled. One brick at a time. We could lost control of the board,” she continues. “That woman from the bar. If we don’t find her and if we don’t stop her now then you won’t have a family left. You won’t have a company either.”
The pep talk seems to spur Roderick on as he says, “That is something we can work with at least. Finally, something I can actually do.”
The Fall of the House of Usher follows a CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company whose children start to die in brutal ways, which is linked to his questionable past. Not wanting to just base the show off Poe’s short story of the same name, Flanagan incorporated a wide range of Poe’s written work within the show’s eight episodes.
The fourth limited series Flanagan has done for Netflix, The Fall of the House of Usher sees the screenwriter teaming up with with many of his consistent collaborators such as Carla Gugino, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel and Zach Gilford. Viewers should also keep an eye out for Mark Hamill, Carl Lumbly, Samantha Sloyan, Sauriyan Sapkota, Willa Fitzgerald, Malcolm Goodwin, Michael Trucco and Henry Thomas.
Flanagan, who has become a household name in the horror space, previously teased his vision for the series.
“It’s crazy. It is unlike anything I’ve ever done, but in the other direction,” he told The Wrap in October 2022. “My favorite way to describe it to people is like [The Haunting of] Hill House is kind of a string quartet, and [The Haunting of] Bly Manor is this delicate, kind of beautiful piece of classical piano music, and The Fall of the House of Usher is heavy metal. It’s rock and roll.”
He added: “It’s the closest I will get to Giallo. It’s wild. It is colorful and dark and blood-soaked and wicked and funny, and aggressive and scary and hilarious. I’ve never gotten to work on anything like it. We left everything on the field with it, and it’s just bombastic fun. I’m really excited for that to find its way out because I especially think both The Midnight Club and Usher just go off in their own drastically different directions, and next to each other they’re fascinating to me.”
The Fall of the House of Usher stars streaming on Netflix Thursday, October 12.
