Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers forThe Fall of the House of Usher.
Once upon a midnight dreary, we all sat down to watch NetflixsThe Fall of the House of Usher.
Eliza was named after Poes real-life mother, but her story is hopefully very different from Eliza Poes.
Netflix
Her story and subsequent death are based on Poes 1844 short story, The Premature Burial.
He eventually wakes in a dark, confined space, but its not a tombits a boat!
Eliza, however, actually is prematurely buried.
The storys main character is even named Prince Prospero, like in the series.
Both men throw masquerade parties, during which all of their guests die.
In the story, Prospero throws the party for nobles hiding from a bleeding plague called the Red Death.
Prospero Usher in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ | EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX
Plus, the deaths are both catapulted forward by a mysterious masked figure.
After a bender, the protagonist worries about what theyve done to their cat.
In both instances, the replacement cat drives the protagonist to true madness.
Napoleon “Leo” Usher in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ | EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX
In both stories, the protagonists are playing up their sanity after murdering someone they love very much.
In the original story, the narrator dismembers their victim and hides them in the floorboards.
When they start hearing sounds, they believe its the beating heart of their victim.
Tamerlane Usher in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ | EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX
(Funnily enough, Tamerlanes husband, Bill, is named after William Wilson.)
In the story, however, William is haunted by a doppelganger.
In the series, Tamerlane is haunted by the woman who plays her while dining with Bill.
And in both stories, the protagonist confronts their double … and ends up killing themselves.
This also happens in Poes 1835 story, Berenice.
Hes forced to stare at the ceiling as the destructive pendulum swings into his abdomen.
And in both, the body was never found.
Throughout the series, Roderick and Dupin hear sounds coming from the basement, which Roderick says is Madeline.
This is based on Poes satirical story, Some Words with a Mummy.
But Madeline isnt fully dead.
She marches upstairs, her eyes replaced with stones, and she strangles her brother to death.
As this violence ensues, their house collapses upon them.
