Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Fall of the House of Usher.
Whether you’re an Edgar Allan Poe purist or simply have an appreciation for good storytelling, The Fall of the House of Usher weaves in endless references to the infamous poet and his works into a cohesive narrative, making it a thrilling ride for anyone. One of the major ways the show achieves this is through each character’s name, which ties thematically and narratively to the poem or short story they’re inspired by. Standing alone, the show has been described as “batsh*t crazy” and is perfect for any bloodthirsty fan — but finding out how deep these references really go brings the insanity to a whole new level.
Roderick and Madeline Usher
Siblings Roderick (Bruce Greenwood and Zach Gilford) and Madeline (Mary McDonnell and Willa Fitzgerald) Usher are the only two characters taken from Poe’s 1839 short story that shares its name with the show’s title. The Fall of the House of Usher takes place in the show’s framing narrative, where Roderick is gravely retelling his past while being plagued by hallucinations.
The most enduring image taken from the original short story is the house itself, which is extensively described in a macabre fashion with unexplainable noises haunting the area. Like in the film, throughout the short story, there is a subsequent mental deterioration of Roderick’s mental state, culminating in his sister — who was sealed in the basement, thought to be dead — reappearing in the doorway and attacking Roderick. Eventually, this leads to the narrator running out into the street as the surrounding structure abruptly collapses, leading to the architectural and familial fall of the house of Usher.
Detective Auguste Dupin
Considered the father of detective stories, Poe created Detective Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly) for several of his short stories. He first appears in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, where his prevailing trait is his ratiocination — his ability to deduce the truth through logic and rationality. This trait doesn’t seem to translate over to the show’s more modern rendition of Dupin, who is instead more proactive about suing the Usher family with whatever information he can find. However, his major role is recording Roderick’s history and confession in the framing narrative, which aligns with the theories of Dupin being the infamous narrator in The Fall of the House of Usher.
Annabel Lee
Annabel Lee (Katie Parker) was Roderick’s former wife and one true love with whom he shared two children, Frederick and Tamerlane. In the show, Annabel is a symbol of purity and morality, often pushing Roderick to do the right thing to no avail. Eventually, she loses her children to him in a divorce and passes away herself. Her character is derived from Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee,” where a narrator endearingly describes his lover who was separated from him and claimed by death. Both Annabels are sweet and gentle characters whose lives are pervaded with tragedy and demise.
Eliza Usher
Eliza Usher (Annabeth Gish) was Roderick and Madeline’s mother and was actually named after Poe’s own mother. Both mothers had to single-handedly raise their kids and died at a young age. However, Eliza Usher’s death followed the story of The Premature Burial, and those who have watched the show can probably see why with just the title. Her children prematurely bury her alive, resulting in a horrifying sequence of events where she ends up killing the children’s father.
Arthur Pym
Private investor and lawyer of the Usher family, Arthur Pym (Mark Hamill) is one of the most underrated and enigmatic characters of the show. His name is derived from Poe’s short story, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, which is more related to the lawyer’s colorful and eventful backstory. We hear hints of Arthur’s worldly travels and the more dire sins he had to commit during his journey and later in favor of the Usher family. Poe’s short story recounts the terrible misadventures that befall Arthur, including shipwreck, mutiny, and cannibalism. Whether or not this is relevant for the show’s Arthur is unclear with his secretive past, but since he seems almost capable of anything, feel free to let your imagination run wild.
Prospero “Perry” Usher
Prospero Usher (Sauriyan Sapkota) is one of Roderick’s many bastards and his name is directly taken from The Masque of the Red Death. In the short story, there is a plague, the Red Death, that kills nearly instantaneously and is now running amok in the lands, and Prince Prospero decides to close his gates and hold an extravagant masquerade ball. But the Red Death infiltrates his walls in a personified form and kills the entire building of party-goers, leaving a massacre in its wake.
With the title of the episode being the same, it is clear how Prospero’s storyline will play out. However, the show takes it a step further and includes an excruciating scene of raining acid that instantly melts each member of the exclusive party. Both Prosperos idolize wealth and exclusivity, leading them to ignore the environmental concerns that plagued the rest of the nation and resulting in a grave karma-like retribution. To throw in a little fun fact, Prospero’s nickname “Perry” is derived from the name Poe used to enlist in the U.S. Army: Edgar A. Perry.
Camille L’Espanaye
Camille L’Espanaye (Kate Siegel) is another Usher bastard and the family’s publicity agent. The episode that features her death, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” is also the short story her character is inspired from. In both the source material and the show, Camille is the victim of a vicious primate attack — while it’s a chimpanzee who is being unethically tested on in the show, the short story illustrates it as an orangutan who escaped confinement. Although the setting in the story is actually a street called “Morgue,” in the show Camille is killed in an animal facility, which is essentially a morgue for the chimps, at a lab called “Rue.” There is a notion of animal cruelty and conservation in both narratives, but the key takeaway is the brutality with which each victim is mauled.
Napoleon “Leo” Usher
As the third Usher bastard, Napoleon Usher (Rahul Kohli) owns a successful gaming industry and is essentially considered the family’s drug dealer. During the final days of his life, he is tormented by a spectral black cat, leading him to rip up his own apartment in hope of capturing it to no avail. Napoleon’s name stems directly from Poe’s short story The Spectacles, where a young man refuses to wear his eyeglasses for vanity reasons and meets a beautiful woman during an opera. Later on, she convinces him to wear the glasses and upon donning them, he realizes she is an “old wretched hag.” Though there doesn’t seem to be a connection between both Napoleons, they both suffer from a form of blindness. The show’s character’s inflicted blindness stems from his inability to see the truth of the feline apparition, leading him down a dark path and off a balcony. It also ties in with the episode’s title story, A Black Cat, which is a rumination on the thin line between instinct and madness.
Victorine “Vic” Lafourcade
The final bastard of the Ushers, Victorine Usher (T’Nia Miller) is a talented scientist who works with a heart surgeon to create a biomechanical heart. Her character is actually more congruous with the narrator from The Tell-Tale Heart rather than her namesake in The Premature Burial. In the former story, the narrator begins overly confident and comfortable in their intelligence, much like Victorine’s insistence to continue on to human trials even though her animal experiments are turning sour. After murdering someone, both versions of the character are haunted by the sound of a beating heart, aggravated by it so much that it leads to their own self-inflicted demise. In The Premature Burial, Victorine is buried alive by her abusive husband, then exhumed and resurrected by her lover. The show’s Victorine is more akin to the husband and lover, prematurely killing her partner and “resurrecting” her by implementing a biomechanical heart in an absolutely gruesome and manic scene.
Tamerlane “Tammy” Usher
Tamerlane Usher (Samantha Sloyan) is one of the legitimate children of Roderick Usher and his ex-wife Annabel. She owns a huge wellness and skin care corporation called “Goldbug,” inspired by Poe’s own short story of the same name. Tamerlane’s character is derived from Poe’s poem, “Tamerlane,” which describes the musings of a famous warrior who returns to his hometown and discovers the death of his old lover. Both Tamerlanes set out to pursue ambition and fame, only to alienate those they love and demonstrate great despair in hindsight.
Frederick “Freddy” Usher
The eldest legitimate Usher, Frederick Usher (Henry Thomas), is inspired by the character from Poe’s first short story, Metzengerstein: A Tale in Imitation of the German. They are both particularly wealthy yet completely inept and incapable characters. Frederick in the short story has a feud with another wealthy family and after inheriting the estate, is burned down with it. This is vaguely connected with the Usher’s own death, where he is paralyzed within the walls of the only responsibility he had, watching them crumble down on him. But his death is most fittingly described by The Pit and the Pendulum, where a swinging beam severs his torso, and he is unable to do anything about it.
Lenore Usher and Verna
Lenore Usher (Kyliegh Curran) is Frederick’s daughter and Roderick’s granddaughter. The name is also famed in Poe lore, immediately conjuring Poe’s most acclaimed poem, “The Raven,” to mind, although the character is also featured in a separate poem, simply titled “Lenore.” Both poems describe the character of Lenore as an angelic and sweet maiden whose life was taken away too soon, leaving the narrator wretchedly yearning for her.
Lenore Usher’s death is featured in the finale, where everyone mourns her loss, including the manifestation of death, Verna (Carla Gugino). Interestingly, Verna is actually an anagram of “raven,” a bird that symbolizes the omen of death in many cultures. Everywhere, Lenore was a symbol of purity and her death symbolically embodies the height of corruption, where goodness and love will be found nevermore.
All episodes of The Fall of the House of Usher are available to stream on Netflix.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
