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Learn more at ring.com/pets. That's

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ring.com/pets. Ha! Hey

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everyone, Tal here. Today we

1:17

have something special to celebrate a

1:19

new podcast coming to Bloody FM

1:21

by our very own producer, Steven

1:23

Indresano. It's called

1:25

Shelterwood, a suburban gothic. Shelterwood

1:29

will launch on August 15th, but

1:31

in the meantime, Steven wanted to

1:33

read us one of his favorite

1:35

American horror stories, The Fall of

1:37

the House of Usher by Edgar

1:39

Allan Poe. Stick around

1:41

at the end to hear more about his

1:43

new project and have fun. The

1:52

Fall of the House of Usher by

1:54

Edgar Allan Poe. During

1:58

the whole of a dull, dark,

2:01

and soundless day in the autumn of

2:03

the year. When the clouds

2:05

hung oppressively low in the heavens,

2:08

I had been passing alone

2:10

on horseback through a singularly

2:13

dreary tract of country and,

2:16

at length, found myself

2:18

as the shades of the evening drew

2:20

on within view of

2:22

the melancholy house of Usher. I

2:26

know not how it was, but

2:29

with the first glimpse of the

2:31

building, a sense of insufferable gloom

2:33

pervaded my spirit. I

2:36

say insufferable for the

2:38

feeling was unrelieved by

2:41

any of that half-pleasurable because

2:43

poetic sentiment with which the

2:46

mind usually receives even the

2:48

sternest natural images of

2:50

the desolate or terrible. I

2:54

looked upon the scene before me, upon

2:56

the mere house and the simple landscape

2:58

features of the domain, upon

3:01

the bleak walls, upon the vacant

3:04

eye-like windows, upon

3:06

a few rank sedges and upon

3:08

a few white trunks of decayed

3:11

trees, with an utter

3:13

depression of soul which I can

3:15

compare to no earthly sensation more

3:17

properly than to the afterdream

3:20

of the reveler upon opium, the

3:22

bitter lapse into everyday life, the

3:26

hideous dropping of the veil. There

3:30

was an iciness, a

3:32

sinking, a sickening of the heart,

3:35

an unredeemed dreariness of thought

3:37

which no goading of the

3:39

imagination could torture into

3:41

awe of the sublime. What

3:45

was it, I pause to think,

3:47

what was it that so

3:49

unnerved me in the contemplation of the house

3:51

of Usher? It was

3:53

a mystery all insoluble, nor

3:56

could I grapple with the shadowy fancies

3:58

that crowded upon me. as

4:00

I pondered. I

4:02

was forced to fall back upon

4:04

the unsatisfactory conclusion that, while beyond

4:07

doubt, there are combinations of very

4:09

simple, natural objects which have the

4:11

power of thus affecting us, still

4:15

the analysis of this power

4:17

lies among considerations beyond our

4:19

depth. It

4:21

was possible, I reflected, that

4:24

a mere different arrangement of the particulars

4:26

of the scene, of the

4:28

details of the picture would be sufficient

4:30

to modify or perhaps to

4:32

annihilate its capacity for sorrowful

4:35

impression, and, acting

4:37

upon this idea, I reigned

4:39

my horse to the precipitous brink

4:42

of a black and lurid tarn

4:44

that lay in unruffled luster by

4:46

the dwelling, engaged down,

4:50

but with a shudder even more

4:52

thrilling than before, upon

4:54

the remodeled and inverted images of

4:57

the grey sedge, and

4:59

the ghastly tree stems, and the

5:01

vacant and I like windows.

5:06

Nevertheless, in this mansion

5:08

of gloom I now propose to

5:10

myself a sojour of some weeks.

5:13

Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been

5:15

one of my boon companions in

5:17

boyhood, but many

5:20

years had elapsed since our last

5:22

meeting. A letter,

5:24

however, had lately reached me in a distant part

5:26

of the country, a letter from

5:28

him which, in its wildly

5:30

inopportune nature, had admitted of no

5:33

other than a personal reply. The

5:36

M.S. gave evidence of nervous

5:39

agitation, the writer

5:41

spoke of acute bodily illness,

5:44

of a mental disorder which oppressed

5:46

him, and of an earnest desire

5:49

to see me, his best and

5:51

indeed his only personal friend. With

5:55

a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness

5:57

of my society, some

5:59

alleviation. of his malady. It

6:02

was the manner in which all this and

6:05

much more was said. It

6:07

was the apparent heart that went

6:09

with his request which allowed me

6:11

no room for hesitation, and

6:13

I accordingly obeyed forthwith what

6:16

I still considered a very singular

6:19

summons. Although,

6:22

as boys, we had been even intimate

6:26

associates, yet I really

6:28

knew little of my friend. His

6:31

reserve had always been excessive

6:33

and habitual. I

6:36

was aware, however, that his

6:38

very ancient family had been

6:40

noted time out of mind

6:43

for a peculiar sensibility of temperament,

6:46

displaying itself through long ages in

6:48

many works of exalted art, and

6:51

manifested of late in

6:53

repeated deeds of munificent, yet

6:55

unobtrusive, charity, as

6:58

well as in a passionate devotion

7:00

to the intricacies, perhaps even more

7:02

to the orthodox and easily recognizable

7:04

beauties, of musical science.

7:08

I had learned to the very remarkable

7:10

fact that the stem of the Usher

7:12

race, all time honored as it

7:14

was, had put forth at

7:17

no period any enduring branch.

7:20

In other words, that the entire

7:22

family lay in the direct line of

7:24

dissent, and had always

7:26

a very trifling and very

7:28

temporary variation so lame. It

7:32

was this deficiency I considered while

7:34

running over in thought the perfect

7:36

keeping of the character of the

7:38

premises with the accredited character

7:40

of the people, and

7:42

while speculating upon the possible influence,

7:44

which the one in the long

7:47

laps of centuries might have exercised

7:49

upon the other, it

7:51

was this deficiency, perhaps, of

7:53

collateral issue, and the

7:55

consequent undeviating transmission from cider to

7:58

sun of the patrimony. ceremony with

8:00

the name, which had,

8:02

at length, so identified the two

8:04

as to merge the original title

8:06

of the estate in the quaint

8:09

and equivocal appellation of

8:11

the House of Usher. An

8:13

appellation which seemed to include, in the minds of

8:15

the peasantry who used it, both the

8:18

family and the family mansion. I

8:22

have said that the sole effect

8:24

of my somewhat childish experiment, that

8:26

of looking down within the tarn,

8:28

had been to deepen the first

8:30

singular impression. There can

8:33

be no doubt that the consciousness of

8:35

the rapid increase of my superstition, for

8:38

why should I not so term it, served

8:41

mainly to accelerate the increase

8:43

itself. Such, I

8:45

have long known, is the paradoxical law

8:47

of all sentiments having terror as a

8:50

basis, and it might

8:52

have been for this reason only that when

8:54

I again uplifted my eyes to the House

8:56

itself from its image in the pool, there

8:58

grew in my mind a strange

9:01

fancy. A fancy so

9:03

ridiculous, indeed, that I

9:05

but mention it to show the vivid

9:08

force of the sensations which oppressed

9:10

me. I had

9:12

so worked upon my imagination as

9:15

to really believe that about the

9:17

whole mansion and domain, they're

9:20

hung an atmosphere, peculiar

9:22

to themselves and their immediate vicinity,

9:24

an atmosphere which had no affinity

9:26

with the air of heaven, but

9:29

which had reeked up from the

9:31

decayed trees and the gray wall

9:33

and the silent tarn. A

9:36

pestilent and mystic vapor,

9:39

dull, sluggish, faintly

9:41

discernible, and leaden-hued.

9:45

Shaking off from my spirit what must

9:47

have been a dream, I

9:50

scanned more narrowly the real aspect of

9:52

the building. Its principal

9:54

features seemed to be that of

9:56

an excessive antiquity, the

9:58

discoloration of aging. had been

10:00

great. Minut fungi

10:02

overspread the whole exterior, hanging

10:05

in a fine tangled web-work

10:07

from the eaves. Yet

10:10

all this was apart

10:12

from any extraordinary dilapidation.

10:15

No portion of the masonry had

10:17

fallen, and there appeared to be

10:19

a wild inconsistency between its still

10:22

perfect adaptation of parts and

10:24

the crumbling condition of the individual

10:26

stones. In this

10:28

there was much that reminded me

10:30

of the specious totality of old

10:32

woodwork which has rotted for long

10:35

years in some neglected vault with

10:37

no disturbance from the breath of

10:39

the external air. Beyond

10:42

this indication of extensive decay,

10:44

however, the fabric gave

10:46

little token of instability. Perhaps

10:49

the eye of a scrutinizing observer

10:51

might have discovered a barely perceptible

10:53

fissure which, extending from the roof

10:56

of the building in front, made

10:58

its way down the wall in

11:00

a zigzag direction until it

11:02

became lost in the sullen waters of the

11:05

tarn. Noticing

11:07

these things, I rode over a

11:09

short causeway to the house. A

11:11

servant in waiting took my horse, and

11:13

I entered the gothic archway of the

11:15

hall. A valet of

11:18

stealthy step thence conducted me

11:20

in silence through many dark

11:22

and intricate passages in my

11:24

progress to the studio of

11:27

his master. Much that I

11:29

encountered on the way he contributed, I know

11:32

not how to heighten the vague

11:34

sentiments of which I have already

11:36

spoken. While the

11:38

objects around me, while the carvings

11:40

of the ceilings, the somber tapestries

11:42

of the walls, the ebony

11:45

blackness of the floors, and

11:47

the phantasmagoric amoral trophies which

11:49

rattled as I shrode, were

11:52

but matters to which, or to such

11:54

as which, I had

11:56

been accustomed from my infancy while

11:59

I hesited. Residuated not to acknowledge how

12:01

familiar was all this, I

12:04

still wondered to find how

12:06

unfamiliar were the fancies which

12:08

ordinary images were stirring up.

12:11

On one of the staircases, I met the

12:13

physician of the family. His

12:16

countenance, I thought, wore a

12:18

mingled expression of low

12:20

cunning and perplexity. He

12:23

accosted me with trepidation and

12:25

passed on. The

12:27

valet now threw open a door and ushered

12:29

me into the presence of his

12:31

master. The

12:34

room in which I found myself was very

12:36

large and lofty. The

12:39

windows were long, narrow, and pointed,

12:41

and at so vast a distance

12:44

from the black oaken floor as

12:46

to be altogether inaccessible from within.

12:49

Feeble gleams of incrimined light

12:51

made their way through the

12:54

trestled panes and served to

12:56

render sufficiently distant the more

12:58

prominent objects around. The

13:00

eye, however, struggled in

13:02

vain to reach the remoter angles

13:04

of the chamber or the recesses

13:07

of the vaulted and fretted ceiling.

13:10

Dark draperies hung upon the walls.

13:13

The general furniture was

13:15

profuse, comfortless, antique, and

13:18

tattered. Many

13:20

books and musical instruments lay scattered

13:22

about but failed to give any

13:24

vitality to the scene. I

13:27

felt that I breathed an atmosphere

13:29

of sorrow, an

13:31

air of stern, deep, and

13:33

irredeemable gloom hung over and

13:36

pervaded all. Upon

13:40

my entrance, Usher rose from a sofa

13:42

on which he had been lying at

13:44

full length and greeted me

13:46

with a vivacious warmth which had much

13:48

in it, I at

13:50

first thought, of an overdone

13:52

cordiality, of the constrained

13:55

effort of the onyue man of the

13:57

world. A glance,

13:59

however, at his. his countenance

14:01

convinced me of his perfect

14:03

sincerity. We sat down and

14:05

for some moments while he spoke not,

14:08

I gazed upon him with the feeling half

14:10

of pity, half of awe. Surely

14:14

man had never before so terribly

14:17

altered and so brief a period

14:19

as had a Roderick Usher. It

14:22

was with difficulty that I could

14:24

bring myself to admit the identity

14:26

of the man before me being

14:28

with the companion of my early

14:31

boyhood. Yet the

14:33

character of his face had been

14:35

at all times remarkable, a

14:38

cadaverousness of complexion, an

14:40

eye large, liquid and

14:42

luminous beyond comparison, lips

14:45

somewhat thin and very pallid,

14:47

but of a surpassingly

14:49

beautiful curve. A

14:51

nose of delicate Hebrew model, but

14:53

with a breadth of nostril unusual

14:56

in similar formations, a

14:58

finely molded chin, speaking

15:00

in its want of prominence of

15:03

a want of moral energy, hair

15:05

of a more than web-like softness

15:07

and tenuity. These

15:10

features with an inordinate

15:12

expansion above the regions of the

15:14

temple made up altogether a countenance

15:16

not easily to be forgotten. And

15:19

now in the mere exaggeration of

15:21

the prevailing character of these features

15:23

and of the expression they were

15:25

wont to convey, lay so

15:28

much of change that I

15:30

doubted to whom I spoke. The

15:33

now ghastly power of the skin

15:35

and the now miraculous luster of

15:37

the eye above all things startled

15:39

and even odd me. The

15:42

silken hair too, which had

15:44

been suffered to grow all unheeded

15:47

and as in its wild, gossamer

15:49

texture, it floated rather than fell

15:51

about the face. I

15:54

could not even with effort connect

15:56

its arabesque expression with any idea

15:58

of simple humanity. In

16:02

the manner of my friend, I

16:04

was at once struck with an

16:07

incoherence, an inconsistency,

16:09

and I soon found this to

16:12

arise from a series of feeble

16:14

and futile struggles to overcome an

16:16

habitual trepodency, an

16:19

excessive nervous agitation. For

16:22

something of this nature I had

16:24

indeed been prepared, no less by

16:26

his letter than by reminiscences of

16:29

certain voyage traits, and

16:31

by conclusions deduced from his

16:33

peculiar physical confirmation and temperament.

16:37

His action was alternately

16:39

vivacious and sullen. His

16:42

voice varied rapidly from a

16:44

tremulous indecision, when the animal spirit

16:46

seemed utterly in abeyance, to

16:49

that species of energetic

16:51

concision, that abrupt,

16:53

weighty, unhurried, hollow-sounding

16:56

enunciation, that leaden,

16:59

self-balanced, and perfectly modulated

17:01

guttural utterance which may

17:03

be observed in the

17:05

lost drunkard, or

17:07

the irreclamable eater of opium

17:09

during the periods of his

17:11

most intense excitement. It

17:15

was thus that he spoke of

17:17

the object of my visit, of

17:19

his earnest desire to see me, and

17:21

of the solace he expected me to

17:23

afford him. He

17:25

entered at some length into

17:27

what he conceived to be the nature of his

17:30

malady. It was, he

17:32

said, a constitutional and a

17:34

family evil, and one for which

17:36

he despaired to find a remedy,

17:39

a mere nervous affection he

17:42

immediately added, which would undoubtedly

17:44

soon pass off. It

17:46

displayed itself in a host of unnatural

17:49

sensations. Some of

17:51

these, as he detailed them, interested and

17:54

bewildered me, although perhaps the terms

17:56

in the general manner of the

17:58

narration had their overweight. He

18:01

suffered much from a morbid acuteness

18:03

of the senses. The most

18:06

insipid food was alone and

18:08

durable. He could wear only

18:10

garments of certain texture. The

18:12

odors of all flowers were

18:14

oppressive. His eyes were tortured

18:16

by even a faint light. And

18:19

there were but peculiar sounds,

18:21

and these from stringed instruments,

18:23

which did not inspire him

18:25

with horror. To

18:28

an anomalous species of terror, I found

18:30

him a bounden

18:32

slave. I

18:34

shall perish, said he. I

18:37

must perish in this deplorable folly.

18:40

Thus, thus, and not otherwise,

18:43

shall I be lost. I

18:45

dread the events of the future, not in

18:47

themselves, but in the results. I

18:50

shudder at the thought of any, even

18:52

the most trivial incident, which may operate

18:54

upon its intolerable agitation of soul. I

18:57

have no abhorrence of danger, except

19:00

in its absolute effect in

19:02

terror. In this unnerved,

19:05

in this pitiable condition,

19:08

I feel that the period will sooner or

19:10

later arrive when I must abandon life and

19:12

reason together in some

19:14

struggle with the grim phantasm

19:17

fear. I

19:20

learned, moreover, at intervals

19:23

and through broken and equivocal hints,

19:25

another singular feature of his mental

19:28

condition. He was

19:30

enchained by certain superstitious impressions

19:32

in regard to the

19:35

dwelling which he tenanted, and whence for

19:37

many years he had never ventured forth.

19:40

In regard to an influence whose

19:42

suppositious force was conveyed in terms

19:45

too shadowy here to be restated,

19:48

an influence which some peculiarities in

19:50

the mere form and substance of

19:52

his family mansion had, by

19:55

dint of long sufferance, he said, obtained

19:58

over his spirit. an effect

20:00

which the physique of the grey walls

20:02

and turrets and of the dim tarn

20:05

into which they all looked down had,

20:07

at length, brought upon

20:09

the morale of his existence. He

20:13

admitted, however, although with

20:15

hesitation, that much of the peculiar

20:17

gloom which thus affected him could

20:19

be traced to a more natural

20:22

and far more palpable origin, to

20:25

the severe and long-continued illness, indeed,

20:27

to the evidently

20:29

approaching dissolution of

20:31

a tenderly beloved sister, his

20:34

sole companion for long years,

20:36

his last and only relative

20:38

on Earth. Her

20:41

disease, he said with

20:43

a bitterness which I can never forget,

20:46

would leave him, him the hopeless

20:48

and the frail, the last

20:50

of the ancient race of the ushers. While

20:54

he spoke, the Lady Madeline, for

20:56

so was she called, passed

20:58

slowly through a remote portion of

21:00

the apartment, and, without

21:03

having noticed my presence, disappeared.

21:06

I regarded her with an utter

21:08

astonishment, not unmingled with dread, and

21:11

yet I found it impossible to

21:13

account for such feelings. A

21:16

sensation of stupor oppressed me

21:18

as my eyes followed her

21:20

retreating steps, when a door,

21:22

at length, closed upon her,

21:24

my glance sought instinctively and

21:27

eagerly the countenance of the

21:29

brother. But he

21:31

had buried his face in his

21:33

hands, and I could only perceive

21:35

that a far more than ordinary

21:37

wannness had overspread the emaciated fingers

21:40

through which trickled many

21:42

passionate tears. The

21:45

disease of the Lady Madeline had

21:47

long baffled the skill of her

21:50

physicians, a settled apathy,

21:52

a gradual wasting away of the

21:54

person, and frequent,

21:57

although transient, affections of a

21:59

partial cataliptical character

22:02

were the unusual diagnosis.

22:05

Hitherto she had steadily borne up against

22:07

the pressure of her malady and had

22:09

not be taken herself finally to bed,

22:13

but on the closing in

22:15

of the evening of my arrival at

22:17

the house she succumbed, as

22:19

her brother told me at night,

22:22

with inexpressible agitation, to

22:24

the prostrating power of the

22:26

destroyer. And

22:28

I learned that the glimpse I had

22:31

obtained for person would thus probably be

22:33

the last I should obtain, that

22:36

the lady, at least while living,

22:38

would be seen by me no more. For

22:43

several days ensuing her name was

22:45

unmentioned, by either usher or myself,

22:48

and during this period I was

22:50

busied in the earnest endeavors to

22:52

alleviate the melancholy of my friend.

22:55

We painted, and read together, or

22:58

I listened, as if in a dream, to the

23:00

wild improvisations of his

23:03

speaking guitar. And

23:05

thus, as a closer and still

23:07

closer intimacy admitted me more unreservedly

23:10

into the recesses of his spirit,

23:13

the more bitterly did I perceive

23:15

the futility of all attempted cheering

23:17

a mind from which darkness, as

23:20

if an inherent positive quality,

23:22

poured forth upon all objects

23:25

of the moral and physical

23:27

universe in one unceasing

23:30

radiation of gloom. I

23:34

shall ever bear about me

23:36

a memory of the many solemn

23:38

hours I thus spent alone with

23:40

the master of the house of

23:42

usher. Yet, I

23:45

should fail in any attempt to convey

23:47

an idea of the exact character of

23:49

the studies, of the occupations in which

23:51

he involved me, or led

23:53

me the way, an excited

23:56

and highly distembered ideality through

23:58

a sulphurous luster over all,

24:01

his long, improvised dirges will

24:03

ring forever in my ears.

24:06

Among other things, I hold

24:08

painfully in mind a certain

24:11

singular perversion and amplification of

24:13

the wild air of the last waltz of

24:15

Van Weber, from the

24:18

paintings over which his elaborate fancy

24:20

brooded and which grew, touch by

24:22

touch, into vagueness at which I

24:24

shuddered the more thrillingly, because

24:27

I shuddered not knowing

24:29

why from these paintings, vivid

24:31

as their images now are before me,

24:33

I would in vain endeavor

24:35

to induce more than a small portion

24:38

which would lie within the compass of

24:40

merely written words. By

24:43

the utter simplicity, by

24:45

the nakedness of his designs, he

24:49

arrested and overawed attention.

24:51

If ever mortal painted an

24:54

idea, that mortal

24:56

was Roderick Usher. For

24:59

me at least, in the

25:01

circumstances then surrounding me, there

25:03

arose out of the pure

25:05

abstractions which the hypochondriac contrived

25:07

to throw upon his canvas

25:09

an intensity of intolerable

25:12

awe, no shadow of

25:14

which felt I ever yet

25:16

in the contemplation of the

25:18

certainly glowing yet too concrete

25:20

reveries of Fuselli. One

25:24

of the phantasmagoric conceptions

25:27

of my friend, partaking

25:29

not so rigidly of the spirit of

25:31

abstraction, may be shadowed

25:34

forth, although feebly in words.

25:37

A small picture presented the

25:39

interior of an immensely long

25:41

and rectangular vault or tunnel,

25:44

with low walls, smooth,

25:46

white, and without interruption or

25:49

device. Certain accessory

25:51

points of the design served well to

25:53

convey the idea that this excavation lay

25:55

at an exceeding depth below

25:57

the surface of the earth. No

26:00

outlet was observed in any portion

26:02

of its vast extent, and no

26:04

torch or other artificial source of

26:07

light was discernible. Yet

26:09

a flood of intense

26:11

rays rolled throughout and bathed

26:14

the hole in a ghastly

26:16

and inappropriate

26:18

splendor. I

26:22

have just spoken of that morbid

26:24

condition of the auditory nerve which

26:27

rendered all music intolerable to the

26:29

sufferer, with the exception of certain

26:31

effects of string instruments. It

26:34

was, perhaps, the narrow limits to

26:36

which he thus confined himself upon

26:38

the guitar which gave birth in

26:41

great measure to the fantastic character

26:43

of the performances. But

26:46

the fervid facility of his impromptus

26:48

could not be so accounted for.

26:51

They must have been, and were,

26:53

in the notes as well as

26:56

in the words of his wild

26:58

phantasias, where he not unfrequently accompanied

27:00

himself with rhymed verbal improvisations, the

27:03

result of that intense

27:06

mental collectedness and concentration to

27:08

which I have previously alluded

27:10

as observable only in particular

27:13

moments of the highest artificial

27:15

excitement. The

27:18

words of one of

27:20

these rhapsodies I have easily remembered.

27:23

I was perhaps the more forcibly impressed

27:26

with it as he gave it, because

27:28

in the under or mystic occurrence of

27:30

its meaning I

27:32

fancied that I perceived, and

27:35

for the first time, a full consciousness

27:38

on the part of Usher of

27:40

the tottering of his lofty reason

27:42

upon her throne. The

27:45

verses, which are entitled The

27:48

Haunted Palace, ran very

27:50

nearly, if not accurately, thus.

28:00

Fair and stately palace, radiant

28:02

palace, reared its head. In

28:05

the monarch thought's dominion it stood there, never

28:07

serif spread opinion over fabric half

28:10

so fair. Banners

28:12

yellow, glorious golden on its roof

28:14

did float and flow. This

28:17

all this was in the

28:19

olden time long ago, and every

28:22

gentle air that dallied in that sweet day, along

28:24

the ramparts plumed and pallid a winged

28:27

odor went away. Viewers

28:30

in that happy valley through two

28:32

luminous windows saw spirits moving musically

28:34

to a lute's well-tuned law. Round

28:37

about a throne where sitting Porphyrogen, in

28:40

state his glory well befitting the ruler

28:42

of the realm was seen. And

28:45

all with pearl and ruby glowing was

28:47

the fair palace door through which King

28:50

Flowing, Flowing, Flowing, and

28:52

sparkling evermore a troop of echoes

28:54

whose sweet duty was but to

28:56

sing in voices of surpassing beauty

28:58

the wit and wisdom of their

29:01

king. But evil

29:03

things in robes of sorrow assailed the

29:05

monarch's high estate. Ah, let

29:07

us mourn for nevermorrow shall dawn upon

29:10

him desolate, and round about

29:12

his home the glory that blushed and

29:14

bloomed is but a dim remembered story

29:16

of the old time entombed. And

29:19

travelers now within that valley, through

29:22

the red-lit and window-sea vast

29:24

forms that move fantastically to

29:26

a discordant melody, while

29:28

like a rapid ghastly river through

29:30

the pale door a hideous throng

29:32

rush out forever and laugh but

29:35

smile no more. I

29:39

well remember that suggestions arising from

29:41

this ballot led us into a

29:43

train of thought wherein there became

29:45

manifest an opinion of Usher's, which

29:47

I mention not so much on

29:49

account of its novelty, for other

29:51

men have thought thus, as

29:54

on account of the pertinacity

29:57

which he manifested in. This

30:00

opinion, in its general form, was

30:02

that of the sentience of all

30:05

vegetable things. But in

30:07

his disordered fancy, the idea had assumed

30:09

a more daring character

30:11

and trespassed upon certain

30:14

conditions, upon the kingdom

30:16

of an organization. I

30:18

lack the words to express the

30:20

full extent or the earnest abandon

30:23

of his persuasion. The

30:25

belief, however, was connected, as I

30:27

have previously hinted, with the gray

30:30

stones of the home of his

30:32

forefathers. The conditions

30:34

of the sentience had been

30:36

here, he imagined, fulfilled in

30:38

the method of concoction of

30:41

these stones, in the

30:43

order of their arrangement, as well

30:45

as in that of the many fungi

30:47

which overspread them, and of the decayed

30:50

trees which stood around, above all,

30:52

in the long undisturbed endurance of this

30:54

arrangement and in its reduplication in the

30:56

still waters of the Tarn. Its

30:59

evidence, the evidence of this sentience,

31:01

was to be seen, he said,

31:04

and here I started, as

31:06

he spoke, in the

31:08

gradual, yet certain condensation of

31:10

an atmosphere of their own,

31:13

about the waters and the walls. The

31:16

result was discoverable, he added,

31:19

in that silent yet inopportune

31:21

and terrible influence, which for

31:24

centuries had molded the destinies

31:26

of his family, and

31:28

which made him what I now see

31:30

him, what

31:32

he was. Such

31:36

opinions need no comment, and

31:38

I will make none. Our

31:41

books, the books which for

31:43

years had formed no small portion of

31:46

the mental existence of the invalid, were,

31:49

as might be supposed, in strict

31:51

keeping with the character of phantasm.

31:54

We poured together over such works

31:57

as the Ver et Tartus of

31:59

Croesus, The Belfogor

32:01

of Machiavelli, The Heaven and

32:03

Hell of Swedenborg, The

32:06

Subterranean Voyage of the Nicholas Klim

32:08

by Holdberg, The Chai

32:10

Romancy of Robert Flood, of Jean

32:12

de Gardein, and of Delachamp,

32:15

The Journey into the Blue Distance of

32:17

Tijek, and The City of the Sun

32:19

by Campanella. One

32:21

favorite volume was a small

32:24

octavo edition of the directorium

32:26

inquisitorium by the Dominican A.

32:28

Meric de Giron, and

32:30

there were passages in Pompineus Mela

32:33

about the old African cedars and

32:35

Egyptians, over which Usher would

32:37

sit dreaming for hours. His

32:40

chief delight, however, was

32:43

found in the perusal of

32:45

an exceedingly rare and curious

32:47

book in quartogothic, The

32:50

Manual of a Forgotten Church,

32:53

The Vigile Morturium

32:55

Secundum Corumiclesiae Maguntinae.

32:59

I could not help thinking of

33:01

the wild ritual of this work,

33:04

and of its probable influence upon

33:06

the hypochondriac, when, one

33:08

evening, having informed

33:11

me abruptly that the Lady

33:13

Madeline was no more, he

33:15

stated his intention of preserving her

33:17

corpse for a fortnight, previous

33:20

to its final interment, in

33:23

one of the numerous vaults within the main

33:25

walls of the building. The

33:28

worldly reason, however, a sign for

33:30

this singular proceeding was one which

33:32

I did not feel at liberty

33:34

to dispute. The

33:36

brother had been led to his resolution,

33:38

so he told me, by a consideration

33:41

of the unusual character of the malady

33:43

of the deceased, of certain, abrasive and

33:45

eager inquiries on the part of her

33:47

medical men, and of the

33:50

remote and exposed situation of the burial

33:52

ground of the family. I

33:55

will not deny that when I called

33:57

to mind the sinister countenance of the

33:59

person whom met upon the staircase on

34:02

the day of my arrival at the

34:04

house, I had no desire to oppose

34:06

what I regarded as at best but

34:09

a harmless and by no means an

34:11

unnatural precaution. At

34:13

the request of Usher, I

34:16

personally aided him in the

34:18

arrangements for the temporary entombment.

34:21

The body having been in coffined, we

34:24

too alone bore it to its rest. The

34:27

vaults in which we placed it, and which had

34:29

been so long unopened that our

34:32

torches, half smothered in its

34:34

oppressive atmosphere, gave us little

34:36

opportunity for investigation, was

34:38

small, damp, and

34:41

entirely without means of admission for

34:43

light, lying at great

34:45

depth immediately beneath that portion of

34:47

the building in which was my

34:49

own sleeping arrangement. It

34:52

had been used, apparently, in remote

34:54

feudal times for the worst purposes

34:57

of a dungeon keep, and

34:59

in later days as a place

35:01

of deposit for powder or some

35:03

other highly combustible substance. As

35:06

a portion of its floor and the

35:08

whole interior of a long archway through

35:10

which we reached it, were carefully sheathed

35:12

with copper, the door

35:14

of massive iron had been

35:17

also similarly protected. This

35:19

immense weight caused an unusual

35:22

sharp, grating sound as

35:24

it moved upon its hinges. Having

35:29

deposited our mournful burden upon

35:31

trestles within this region of

35:33

horror, we partially turned

35:35

aside the yet unscrewed lid of

35:37

the coffin and looked upon the

35:39

face of the tenet. A

35:43

striking similitude between the brother and

35:45

sister now first arrested my attention,

35:48

and Usher, divining perhaps my thoughts,

35:51

murmured out some few words which

35:53

I learned that the deceased and

35:55

himself had been twins,

35:58

and that the sympathies of a scarcely intelligible

36:00

nature had always existed

36:02

between them. Our

36:05

glances, however, rested not long

36:07

upon the dead, for we could

36:09

not regard her unodd. The

36:12

disease, which had thus entombed

36:14

the lady in the maturity of youth, had

36:17

left, as usual in

36:19

all maladies of a strictly cataleptical

36:22

character, the mockery of the faint

36:24

blush upon the bosom

36:26

in the face, and that

36:28

suspiciously lingering smile upon the lips

36:31

which is so terrible

36:34

in death. We

36:37

replaced and screwed down the lid,

36:40

and, having secured the door of iron,

36:42

made our way with toil to the

36:44

scarcely less gloomy apartments of the upper

36:46

portion of the house. And

36:50

now, some days of

36:52

bitter grief having elapsed, an

36:55

observable change came over the features of

36:57

the mental disorder of my friend. His

37:00

ordinary manner had vanished, his

37:03

ordinary occupations were neglected or

37:06

forgotten, he'd roamed

37:08

from chamber to chamber with

37:10

hurried, unequal and

37:13

objectless step. The

37:16

pallor of his countenance had assumed, if

37:18

possible, a more ghastly hue,

37:21

but the luminousness of his eyes had utterly

37:24

gone out. The

37:27

once occasional huskiness of his tone was

37:29

heard no more, and

37:31

a tremulous quaver as if

37:33

of extreme terror habitually

37:35

characterized his utterance. There

37:38

were times, indeed, when I thought his

37:40

unceasingly agitated mind was laboring,

37:43

with some oppressive

37:45

secret, to divulge which

37:47

he struggled for the necessary courage.

37:51

At times, again, I was

37:53

obliged to resolve all into the

37:56

mere explicable vagaries of madness, for

37:59

I beheld him gazing upon

38:01

vacancy for long hours in

38:03

an attitude of the profoundest attention, as

38:06

if listening to some

38:09

imaginary sound. It

38:11

was no wonder that his condition terrified

38:13

that it infected

38:15

me. I

38:18

felt creeping upon me by

38:20

slow yet certain degrees the

38:23

wild influences of his

38:25

own fantastic yet impressive

38:28

superstitions. It

38:33

was, especially, upon retiring to

38:35

bed late in the night of

38:37

the seventh or eighth day after

38:39

the placing the Lady Madeline within the

38:42

dungeon that I experienced

38:44

the full power of such feelings.

38:49

The night came not near my couch.

38:52

While the hours waned and waned

38:54

away, I struggled to reason

38:57

off the nervousness which had dominion

38:59

over me. I

39:01

endeavored to believe that much, if

39:03

not all, of what I

39:06

felt was due to the bewildering influence

39:08

of the gloomy furniture of the room,

39:11

of the dark and tattered draperies

39:13

which, tortured into motion by

39:15

the breath of a rising tempest, swayed

39:18

fitfully to and fro upon the

39:20

walls and rustled uneasily about

39:22

the decorations at the bed. But

39:27

my efforts were fruitless. An

39:29

irreplaceable tremor gradually pervaded

39:31

my frame and at

39:33

length, there sat

39:36

upon my very heart an

39:38

incubus of utterly causeless alarm. Taking

39:42

this off, with a gasp and a

39:45

struggle, I uplifted myself upon the pillows,

39:48

and peering earnestly within the intense

39:50

darkness of the chamber, hearkened—I know

39:53

not why, except that an instinctive

39:55

spirit prompted me—to certain

39:57

low and definite sounds. which

39:59

came through the pauses of

40:02

the storm, at

40:04

long intervals I knew not whence.

40:07

Overpowered by an intense

40:09

sentiment of horror, unaccountable

40:12

yet unendurable, I

40:14

threw on my clothes with haste, for

40:17

I felt that I should sleep no more during the

40:19

night, and endeavored to arouse

40:21

myself from the pitiable condition into which

40:23

I had fallen, by pacing

40:25

rapidly to and fro through the

40:27

apartment. I

40:30

had taken but a few turns

40:32

in this manner, when a light

40:34

step upon the adjourning staircase arrested

40:36

my attention. I

40:38

presently recognized it as that of

40:40

Usher. In an instant

40:42

afterwards, he wrapped with a gentle touch

40:44

at my door, and entered,

40:46

bearing a lamp. His

40:48

countenance was, as usual, cadaverously

40:51

wan, but, moreover,

40:53

there was a species of

40:55

mad hilarity in his eyes,

40:58

and evidently restrained his stereo in

41:00

his whole demeanor. His

41:03

air appalled me, but

41:06

anything was preferable to the solitude which

41:08

I had so long endured, and

41:10

I even welcomed his presence as a relief. And

41:15

you have not seen it? he

41:17

said, abruptly, after

41:20

having stared about him for some moments

41:22

in silence. You

41:24

have not then seen it? But stay,

41:26

you shall. Thus,

41:30

speaking, and having carefully shaded his lamp, he hurried

41:32

to one of the casements, and threw it freely

41:34

open to the storm. The impestuous fury of the

41:36

entering gust nearly

41:43

lifted us from our feet.

41:46

It was, indeed, a tempestuous, yet sternly

41:48

beautiful night, and

41:51

one wildly singular in its terror

41:53

and its beauty. A

41:55

whirlwind had apparently collected its force in our vicinity, for

41:57

there were frequent and

42:00

violent alterations in the direction of

42:02

the wind. And the exceeding

42:04

density of the clouds, which hung so

42:06

low as to press upon the turrets

42:08

of the house, did not

42:10

prevent our perceiving the lifelike velocity

42:13

with which they flew, careering from

42:15

all points against each other, without

42:17

passing away into the distance. I

42:20

say that even their exceeding density did not

42:23

prevent our perceiving this, yet

42:25

we had no glimpse of the moon or

42:27

stars, nor was there any

42:29

flashing forth of the lightning. But

42:32

under the surfaces of the huge

42:34

masses of agitated vapor, as

42:37

well as all terrestrial objects immediately

42:39

around us, were glowing

42:41

in the unnatural light of

42:44

a faintly luminous and distinctly

42:46

visible gaseous exhalation which

42:49

hung about and enshrouded

42:51

the mansion. You

42:53

must not, you shall

42:55

not behold this, said

42:58

I, shuddering to usher as I led

43:00

him with a gentle violence from the

43:02

window to his seat. These

43:04

appearances which bewilder you are merely

43:07

electrical phenomena, not uncommon,

43:11

or it may be that they have their ghastly

43:13

origin in the rank miasma

43:15

of the Tarn. Let

43:18

us close this casement. The air

43:20

is chilling and dangerous to your

43:22

frame. Here is one

43:24

of your favorite romances. I

43:27

will read and you shall listen, and

43:30

so we will pass away this

43:32

terrible night together. The

43:36

antique volume which I had taken up

43:39

was the mad tryst of Sir

43:41

Lancelot Canning, but I had

43:44

called it a favorite of Usher's, more in

43:46

sad jest than an earnest, for

43:48

in truth there is little in its

43:51

uncouth and unimaginative prolyxity

43:53

which could have interest for the

43:55

lofty and spiritual ideality of my

43:58

friend. And

44:00

it was, however, the only book

44:02

immediately at hand, and I indulged

44:05

a vague hope that the excitement

44:07

which now agitated the hypochondriac may

44:09

find relief for the history

44:11

of mental disorder is full of similar anomalies,

44:14

even in the extremeness of the falling

44:16

which I should read. Could

44:19

I have judged, indeed, by the

44:22

wild, overstrained air of vivacity with

44:24

which he he hearkened, or apparently

44:26

hearkened, to the words of the

44:28

tale, I might well

44:30

have congratulated myself upon the success

44:33

of my design. I

44:36

had arrived at that well-known portion

44:39

of the story where Ethel read, The

44:41

Hero of the Trist, having sought in

44:43

vain for peaceable admission into the dwelling

44:45

of the hermit, proceeds to

44:47

make good an entrance by

44:49

force. Here

44:52

it will be remembered, the words of

44:54

the narrative run thus. And

44:58

Ethel read, who was by nature of

45:01

a dote-howard, and who was now mighty

45:03

withal, on account of the powerfulness of

45:05

the wine with which he had drunken,

45:08

waited no longer to hold parlay

45:10

with the hermit, who, in sooth,

45:12

was of an obstinate and maliceful

45:14

turn. But feeling the

45:16

rain upon his shoulders, and fearing the

45:18

rising of the tempest, uplifted

45:21

his mace outright, and with blows

45:23

made quickly room in the plankings

45:25

of the door for his gauntleted

45:28

hand, and now

45:30

pulling therewith sturdily, he so

45:32

cracked and ripped and tore

45:34

all asunder, that the

45:36

noise of the dry and

45:39

hollow-sounding wood, alarm'd and reverberated

45:41

throughout the forest. The

45:46

termination of this sentence, I

45:49

started, and for a

45:51

moment paused, for it

45:53

appeared to me, although I at

45:56

once concluded that my excited fancy

45:58

had deceived me, It

46:00

appeared to me that from

46:02

some very remote portion of the

46:05

mansion there came distinctly to

46:07

my ears what might have been in

46:10

its exact similarity of character the

46:13

echo, but a stilted and dull

46:15

one, certainly, of the

46:17

very cracking and ripping sound which

46:20

Sir Lancelot had so particularly described.

46:24

It was, beyond doubt, the

46:26

coincidence alone which had arrested

46:28

my attention, for amid the

46:30

rattling of the sashes of

46:32

the casements and the ordinary

46:34

commingled noises of the still

46:36

increasing storm, the sound in

46:38

itself had nothing, surely,

46:41

which should have interested or disturbed me. I

46:45

continued the story. But

46:50

the good champion Aethelret, now

46:52

entering within the door, was

46:54

sore and enraged, and amazed

46:56

to perceive no signal of

46:58

the mouseful hermit. But

47:01

in the stead thereof, a

47:03

dragon of a scaly and prodigious

47:05

demeanor, and of a fiery tongue,

47:07

which sat in guard before a

47:09

palace of gold, with a floor

47:11

of silver. And upon

47:13

the wall there hung a shield

47:16

of shining grass, with the legend

47:18

enwritten, who entereth herein

47:20

a conqueror hath been, who

47:23

slaeth the dragon the shield he

47:25

shall win. And

47:28

Aethelret uplifted his mace, and struck

47:30

upon the head of the dragon,

47:32

which fell before him, and

47:35

gave up his pesty breath, with

47:37

a shriek so horrid and harsh,

47:39

and withal so piercing, that Aethelret

47:42

had feigned to close his ears

47:44

with his hands against the dreadful

47:46

noise of it, the like whereof

47:49

was never before heard. Here

47:54

again, I paused abruptly,

47:58

and now, with a feeling of wild amazement, For

48:01

there could be no doubt whatever

48:03

that in this instance I actually

48:05

did hear, although from what direction

48:07

it proceeded I found impossible to

48:09

say, a low

48:11

and apparently distant but harsh,

48:14

protracted and

48:16

most unusual screaming or grating

48:19

sound. The

48:21

exact counterpart of what my fancy

48:23

had already conjured up for the

48:26

dragon's unnatural shriek as described by

48:28

the romancer. Oppressed

48:32

as I certainly was upon

48:34

the occurrence of this second

48:36

and most extraordinary coincidence, by

48:39

a thousand conflicting sensations in

48:41

which wonder and extreme terror

48:44

were predominant, I still

48:46

retained sufficient presence of mind

48:48

to avoid exciting by any

48:50

observation the sensitive nervousness of

48:52

my companion. I

48:54

was by no means certain that he had

48:56

noticed the sounds in question, although,

48:59

assuredly, a strange alteration had, during

49:01

the last minutes, taken place in

49:04

his demeanor. From

49:06

a position fronting my own, he had gradually

49:08

brought round his chair so as to sit

49:10

with his face to the door of the

49:12

chamber, and thus I could

49:14

but partially perceive his features, although

49:17

I saw that his lips trembled

49:19

as if he were mumbling inaudibly.

49:23

His head had dropped upon his breast,

49:25

yet I knew that

49:27

he was not asleep from the wide

49:29

and rigid opening of the eye as

49:32

I caught a glance of it in profile. The

49:35

motion of his body, too, was at

49:37

variance with this idea, for he

49:39

rocked from side to side

49:42

with a gentle yet constant

49:44

and uniform sway. Having

49:47

rapidly taken notice of all this,

49:49

I resumed the narrative of Sir

49:51

Lancelot, which, thus,

49:54

proceeded. And

49:57

now, the champion, Having

50:00

escaped from the terrible fury of

50:02

the dragon, the thinking himself of

50:04

the brazen shield and of the

50:06

breaking up from the enchantment which

50:08

was upon it, removed

50:10

the carcass from out of the

50:12

way before him, and

50:14

approached valorously over the silver pavement

50:17

of the castle to where the

50:19

shield was upon the wall, which,

50:22

in sooth, tarried not for his

50:24

full coming, but fell down at

50:26

his feet upon the silver floor

50:28

with a mighty and great terrible

50:30

ringing sound. No

50:37

sooner had these syllables passed

50:40

my lips than, as

50:42

if a shield of brass had

50:45

indeed at the moment

50:47

fallen heavily upon a floor of

50:49

silver, I became

50:51

aware of a distant,

50:53

hollow, metallic, and clangorous,

50:55

yet apparently muffled reverberation.

51:00

Completely unnerved, I leaped to

51:02

my feet, but

51:04

the measured rocking movement of

51:06

Usher was undisturbed. I

51:08

rushed to the chair in which he sat. His

51:11

eyes were bent fixedly before him,

51:14

and throughout his whole countenance there

51:16

reigned a stony rigidity. As

51:20

I placed my hand upon his

51:22

shoulder, there came a strong shudder

51:24

over his whole person, a

51:26

sickly smile quiver

51:29

about his lips, and

51:31

I saw that he spoke in a

51:33

long, hurried, and

51:35

gibbering murmur, as if

51:37

unconscious of my presence. Bending

51:40

closely over him, I

51:42

at length drank in the hideous

51:44

import of his words. Yet

51:49

I dare not. Oh,

52:00

pity me, miserable wretch that I am.

52:03

I dared not, I dared not speak.

52:06

We have put her living in the

52:08

tomb. Said I

52:10

not that my senses were acute, I now

52:12

tell you that I heard her first feeble

52:14

movements in the hollow coffin. I

52:17

heard them many, many days ago. Yet

52:20

I dared not, I dared not speak. And

52:23

now, tonight, Ethel read, Ha

52:25

ha! The breaking of the

52:27

hermit's door and the death cry of the dragon

52:30

and the clanger of the shield, say

52:32

rather the rending of her coffin and the

52:34

grating of the iron hinges of her prison

52:36

and her struggles within the coppered archway of

52:38

the vault. Oh, whither shall I

52:40

fly? Will she not be here a nun?

52:43

Is she not hurrying to upbraid me from my

52:45

haste? Have I not heard her footsteps on

52:47

the stair? Do I not distinguish

52:49

that heavy and horrible beating of her heart?

52:53

Madman! Here he sprang

52:55

furiously to his feet and shrieked

52:57

out his syllables as if in

52:59

the effort he were giving up

53:01

his soul. Madman, I

53:03

tell you that she now stands

53:06

without the door! As

53:10

if in the superhuman energy of

53:12

his utterance there had been found

53:14

the potency of a spell, the

53:18

huge antique panels to which

53:20

the speaker pointedly threw slowly

53:22

back upon the instance their

53:25

ponderous and ebony jaws.

53:29

It was the work of the rushing gust, but

53:32

then without those doors there

53:35

did stand the lofty and

53:37

enshrouded figure of the lady

53:39

Madeline of Usher. There

53:43

was blood upon her white robes and

53:46

the evidence of some bitter struggle

53:48

upon every portion of her emaciated

53:50

frame. For

53:52

a moment she remained

53:55

trembling and reeling too

53:57

and fro upon the threshold. Then,

54:01

with a low moaning cry,

54:04

fell heavily inward upon the

54:06

person of her brother. And

54:09

in her violent and now

54:11

final death agonies bore

54:13

to him the floor a

54:15

corpse and a

54:18

victim to the terrors he

54:20

had anticipated. From

54:23

that chamber and from that

54:25

mansion, I fled a

54:28

ghast. The storm

54:30

was still abroad in all its wrath,

54:32

and as I found myself crossing the

54:34

old causeway, suddenly there

54:37

shot along the path a

54:39

wild light. And

54:42

I turned to see once a gleam

54:44

so unusual could have issued, for

54:47

the vast house and its shadows

54:49

were alone behind me. The

54:52

radiance was that of the

54:55

full setting and blood-red moon,

54:57

which now shone vividly

54:59

through that once barely discernible

55:01

fissure of which I have

55:03

before spoken, as

55:05

extended from the roof of the

55:07

building in a zigzagging direction to

55:09

the base. While

55:12

I gazed, this fissure

55:15

rapidly worsened. There

55:17

came a fierce breath of the world.

55:20

The entire orb of the satellite

55:23

burst at once upon my sight,

55:25

my brain, real, as

55:28

I saw the mighty walls rushing

55:30

asunder. There was

55:32

a long, tumultuous shouting sound

55:34

like the voice of a thousand

55:36

waters, and the deep, dank

55:39

tarnate my feet closed

55:43

suddenly and silently

55:46

over the fragments of the

55:48

House of Usher. The

55:54

fall of the

55:57

House of Usher was written by Edgar

56:00

Allan Poe, and read by Steven

56:02

Indresano. Roderick Usher was

56:04

played by Sam Stark. Sound

56:07

design was by me, Tal Meneer. If

56:10

you enjoyed this episode, we think

56:12

you'll love Shelterwood. Shelterwood,

56:15

a suburban Gothic, is

56:17

a horror fiction podcast about one

56:19

man's journey to find his long

56:21

lost sister. The show

56:24

mimics the format of true

56:26

crime podcasts, including dramatic narration,

56:29

slick production, and startling twists.

56:32

It will launch with episodes one and two on

56:34

August 15th, 2024. But

56:37

you can subscribe now wherever you get

56:39

your podcasts. I know I did.