Usher's PassingPoe’s classic tale lives on in this gothic novel of ancestral madness in the mountains of modern-day North Carolina, from a New York Times–bestselling author. Ever since Edgar Allan Poe looted a family’s ignoble secret history for his classic story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” living in the shadow of that sick dynasty has been an inescapable scourge for generations of Usher descendants. But not for horror novelist Rix Usher. Years ago, he fled the isolated family estate of Usherland in the menacing North Carolina hills to pursue his writing career. He promised never to return. But his father’s impending death has brought Rix back home to assume the role of Usher patriarch—and face his worst fears. His arrival forces him to confront a devious and impassive family and his vulnerable sister’s slow descent into insanity. Stirring memories of the grim folktales born out of the surrounding Briartop Mountains and the terrifying legends of missing children, Rix knows that in the dark, twisted corridors of Usherland, that dreadful something he saw as a young boy is still there. It’s waiting for him, as decayed and undying as the Usher heritage, and more depraved than anything Poe could have imagined. This eerie novel by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song and Boy’s Life is “a frightening pleasure” and a worthy tribute to the master who inspired it (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Carl_Alves - LibraryThingWhen I first started reading this book, I thought it would be a historical fiction novel featuring Edgar Allen Poe and the Usher family that he wrote about over a century ago. It turned out to be set ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - lauriebrown54 - LibraryThingIn this sequel to Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”, McCammon proposes that not all of the Usher family died at the end of the story, that a brother lived on. And while the brother had the Usher ... Read full review
Contents
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Raven | |
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The Mountain King | |
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Valley of the Shadow | |
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The Lodge | |
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The Decision | |
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Common terms and phrases
asked began blood body Boone breath Briartop called cane chair closed cold corridor damned dark didn’t don’t door Dunstan Edwin Erik eyes face father feet felt fire floor front give gone gray hair hand he’d head hear heard held hundred inside Katt knew leave light listening live Lodge Logan looked Ludlow Margaret mind mother Mountain Mountain King mouth moved never night Nora passed past picked pulled Pumpkin Raven reached realized Rix’s seemed seen side smile sound standing started steps stone stood stopped suddenly sure talk tell thing thought told took trying turned Usher Usherland voice waiting Walen walked walls watched whispered wind window woman woods