The Fall of the House of Usher Discussion with Michelle Swope

A man in a church looks over his shoulder
Bruce Greenwood as RODERICK in THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

 As the final piece of my Flanagan The Fall of House of Usher coverage, I host a discussion with horror maven Michelle Swope to discuss the entire series. Michelle has been talking about Mike Flanagan on Twitter for awhile, so I knew she would be the perfect partner. After talking about our love for his entire body of work, we focus on the new series. Topics include our favorite characters, the bloodiest deaths, and our overall takes on the themes of the show. The first part of the talk is spoiler free, and we give a spoiler warning before really getting into the nitty gritty. 

Not ready for spoilers yet? Check out my spoiler-free show preview

The Fall of the House of Usher comes to Netflix on October 12, 2023. Based loosely on the short stories and poetry of 19th-century gothic author Edgar Allan Poe, Mike Flanagan, the current master of the horror TV series, drops another Netflix series, just in time for the season of all things dreary and bleak. Flanagan shares the director seat with regular collaborator Michael Fimognari, and the cast includes most of the ever-growing family of Flanagan's favorites: Carla Cugino, Willa Fitzgerald, Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas, Annabeth Gish, Zach Gilford, Bruce Greenwood, Samantha Sloyan, T'Nia Miller, Michael Trucco, Rahul Kohli, Igby Rigney, Robert Longstreet, Aya Furukawa, Sauriyan Sapkota, and Ruth Codd all come back to haunt us. I was so happy to see Codd return in a prominent role after her phenomenal turn as Anya in The Midnight Club. Newcomers to the Flanagan-verse also get inducted: Willa Fitzgerald, Mark Hamill, Mary McDonnell, and Carl Lumbly.


A man in a trench coat talks on a cellphone
Mark Hamill as ARTHUR PYM in THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
 
About Michelle Swope: Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic Michelle Swope writes about genre films for Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead News, and Scream Magazine. She is a member of NC Film Critics Association. You can find her on Twitter & Bluesky @RedheadfromMars; On Instagram: @MichelleMSwope.

Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay: Cinematic Time Lapse

Lindsey Dunn is a film critic with membership in both NC Film Critics and Southeastern Film Critics. She loves all things Cobra Kai, Netflix Dark, indie horror, and any stories about complicated relationships. You can find her at 1ofmystories.com and most social channels @1ofmystories. She is currently watching The Last of Us and Totally Killer




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