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" I looked at him with a feeling of sad surprise. Surely, no man had ever
before changed as Roderick Usher had! Could this be the friend of my
early years?"
True friends are there for you through thick and thin, and in childhood we often swear to be loyal to the end, but what does loyalty really mean? Rae Wilson shares her observations on Poe's exploration of a friendship put to the test and invites you to question your own definition of loyalty.
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-------------
Dark Shadows - by David Fesliyan
https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★In the oral tradition of storytelling, Echoes in the Dark, delivers classic works of gothic fiction weekly. Hosted and curated by Ms. Rae (an award-winning educator, actor, and literary analyst) the collection of stories spans popular works by authors like Edgar Allan Poe as well as lesser known works by authors such as Guy de Maupassant. Each story is followed by a literary analysis.
If you’re looking to enjoy more classic literature, struggle to find the time to read, hate reading, or just love listening to stories, then this podcast is for you.
A Note on Content: While these stories are generally appropriate for listeners aged 12 and up, classic Gothic literature frequently explores themes of murder, romantic affairs, and "tortured souls." Stories are performed exactly as written in their original historical context.
If you are looking to learn more ways to boost your literary analysis visit:
Speaker 1: Welcome to Echoes in the
Dark, a podcast dedicated to the
oral
Speaker 1: tradition of
storytelling.
Speaker 1: If you're looking to
enjoy more classic literature,
struggle
Speaker 1: to find the time to read,
hate reading, or just love listening
Speaker 1: to stories, then this
podcast is for you.
Speaker 1: At the end of each story,
I'll share my analysis on the
story's
Speaker 1: deeper meanings.
Speaker 1: The Fall of the House of
Usher by Edgar Allan Poe is a short
Speaker 1: story that was originally
published in 1839 in Burton's
Gentleman
Speaker 1: Magazine.
Speaker 1: Poe had some 70 short
stories published.
Speaker 1: He is heralded by many as
the master of Gothic literature, and
Speaker 1: he has historical credit
as the inventor of detective
fiction.
Speaker 1: The entire story for
today is told in first-person
narration.
Speaker 1: If you want to follow
along, you'd get a copy on my
website.
Speaker 1: And in the early evening,
I came within view of the house of
Speaker 1: Usher.
Speaker 1: I do not know how it was,
but with my first sight of the
building,
Speaker 1: a sense of heavy sadness
filled my spirit.
Speaker 1: I looked at the scene
before me, at the house itself, at
the
Speaker 1: ground around it, at the
cold stone walls of the building, at
Speaker 1: its empty eye-like
windows, and at a few dead trees.
Speaker 1: I looked at the scene.
Speaker 1: I say with complete
sadness of soul, which was no
healthy earthly
Speaker 1: feeling.
Speaker 1: There was a coldness, a
sickening of the heart in which I
could
Speaker 1: discover nothing to
lighten the weight I felt.
Speaker 1: What was it I asked
myself?
Speaker 1: What was it that was so
fearful, so frightening in my view
of
Speaker 1: the house of Usher?
Speaker 1: This was a question to
which I could find no answer.
Speaker 1: I stopped my horse beside
the building on the edge of a dark
Speaker 1: and quiet lake.
Speaker 1: There, I could see
reflected in the water a clear
picture of
Speaker 1: the dead trees, and of
the house and its empty, eye-like
windows.
Speaker 1: I was now going to spend
several weeks in this house of
sadness,
Speaker 1: this house of gloom.
Speaker 1: Its owner was named
Roderick Usher.
Speaker 1: We had been friends when
we were boys, but many years had
passed
Speaker 1: since our last meeting.
Speaker 1: A letter from him had
reached me.
Speaker 1: A wild letter which
demanded that I reply by coming to
see him.
Speaker 1: He wrote of an illness of
the body, of a sickness of the mind,
Speaker 1: and of a desire to see
me.
Speaker 1: His best and indeed his
only friend.
Speaker 1: It was the manner in
which all this was said.
Speaker 1: It was the heart in it,
which did not allow me to say no.
Speaker 1: Although as boys we had
been together, I really knew little
Speaker 1: about my friend.
Speaker 1: I knew, however, that his
family, a very old one, had long
been
Speaker 1: famous for its
understanding of all the arts and
for many quiet
Speaker 1: acts of kindness to the
poor.
Speaker 1: I had learned too that
the family had never been a large
one
Speaker 1: with many branches.
Speaker 1: The name had passed
always from father to son.
Speaker 1: And when people spoke of
the house of Usher, they included
both
Speaker 1: the family and the family
home.
Speaker 1: I again looked up from
the picture of the house reflected
in
Speaker 1: the lake to the house
itself.
Speaker 1: A strange idea grew in my
mind.
Speaker 1: An idea so strange that I
tell it only to show the force of
Speaker 1: the feelings which laid
their weight on me.
Speaker 1: I really believe that
around the whole house, the ground
around
Speaker 1: it, the air itself was
different.
Speaker 1: It was not the air of
heaven.
Speaker 1: It rose from the dead,
decaying trees from the gray walls
and
Speaker 1: the quiet lake.
Speaker 1: It was a sickly,
unhealthy air that I could see, slow
moving,
Speaker 1: heavy, and gray.
Speaker 1: Shaking off from my
spirit what must have been a dream,
I looked
Speaker 1: more carefully at the
building itself.
Speaker 1: The most noticeable thing
about it seemed to be its great age.
Speaker 1: None of the walls had
fallen, yet the stones appeared to
be
Speaker 1: in a condition of
advanced decay.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the careful eye
would have discovered the beginning
Speaker 1: of a break in the front
of the building, a crack making its
Speaker 1: way from the top down the
wall until it became lost in the
dark
Speaker 1: waters of the lake.
Speaker 1: I rode over a short
bridge to the house.
Speaker 1: A man who worked in the
house, a servant, took my horse and
Speaker 1: I entered.
Speaker 1: Another servant, of quiet
step, led me without a word through
Speaker 1: many dark turnings to the
room of his master.
Speaker 1: Much that I met on the
way at it, I do not know how, to the
Speaker 1: strangest of which I had
already spoken, while the objects
around
Speaker 1: me, the dark wall
coverings, the blackness of the
floors, and
Speaker 1: the things brought home
from long forgotten wars, while
these
Speaker 1: things were like the
things I had known since I was a
baby,
Speaker 1: while I admitted that all
this was only what I expected.
Speaker 1: I was still surprised at
the strange ideas which grew in my
Speaker 1: mind from these simple
things.
Speaker 1: The room I came into was
very large and high.
Speaker 1: The windows were high and
pointed at the top and so far above
Speaker 1: the black floor that they
were quite out of reach.
Speaker 1: Only a little light, red
in color, made its way through the
Speaker 1: glass, and served to
lighten the nearer and larger
objects.
Speaker 1: My eyes, however, tried
and failed to see into the far, high
Speaker 1: corners of the room.
Speaker 1: Dark coverings hung upon
the walls.
Speaker 1: The many chairs and
tables had been used for a long,
long time.
Speaker 1: Books lay around the
room, but could give it no sense of
life.
Speaker 1: I felt sadness hanging
over everything.
Speaker 1: No escape from this deep
cold gloom seemed possible.
Speaker 1: As I entered the room,
Usher stood up from where he had
been
Speaker 1: lying and met me with a
warmth which at first I could not
believe
Speaker 1: was real.
Speaker 1: A look, however, at his
face told me that every word he
spoke
Speaker 1: was true.
Speaker 1: We sat down and for some
moments, while he said nothing, I
looked
Speaker 1: at him with a feeling of
sad surprise.
Speaker 1: Surely no man had ever
before changed as Rodrigue Usher
had.
Speaker 1: Could this be the friend
of my early years?
Speaker 1: It is true that his face
had always been unusual.
Speaker 1: He had grey white skin,
eyes large and full of light, lips
not
Speaker 1: bright in color, but a
beautiful shape, a well-shaped nose,
Speaker 1: hair of great softness, a
face that was not easy to forget.
Speaker 1: And now the increase in
this strangeness of his face had
caused
Speaker 1: so great a change that I
almost did not know him.
Speaker 1: The horrible white of his
skin and the strange light in his
Speaker 1: eyes surprised me and
even made me afraid.
Speaker 1: His hair had been allowed
to grow, and in its softness, it did
Speaker 1: not fall around his face,
but seemed to lie upon the air.
Speaker 1: I could not, even with an
effort, see in my friend the
appearance
Speaker 1: of a simple human being.
Speaker 1: In his manner, I saw at
once.
Speaker 1: Changes came and went.
Speaker 1: I had indeed been
prepared for something like this
partly by
Speaker 1: his letter and partly by
remembering him as a boy.
Speaker 1: His actions were first
too quick and then too quiet.
Speaker 1: Sometimes his voice, slow
and trembling with fear, quickly
changed
Speaker 1: to a strong, heavy,
carefully spaced, too, perfectly
controlled
Speaker 1: manner.
Speaker 1: It was in this manner
that he spoke of the purpose of my
visit,
Speaker 1: of his desire to see me,
and of the deep delight and strength
Speaker 1: he expected me to give
him.
Speaker 1: He told me what he
believed to be the nature of his
illness.
Speaker 1: It was, he said, a family
sickness and one from which he could
Speaker 1: not hope to grow better.
Speaker 1: But it was, he added at
once, only a nervous illness which
would
Speaker 1: without doubt soon pass
away.
Speaker 1: It showed itself in a
number of strange feelings.
Speaker 1: Some of these, as he told
me of them, interested me but were
Speaker 1: beyond my understanding.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the way in which
he told me of them added to their
strangeness.
Speaker 1: He suffered much from a
sickly increase in the feeling of
all
Speaker 1: the senses.
Speaker 1: He could eat only the
most tasteless food.
Speaker 1: All flowers smelled too
strong for his nose, his eyes were
hurt
Speaker 1: by even a little light.
Speaker 1: And there were few sounds
which did not fill him with horror.
Speaker 1: A certain kind of sick
fear was completely his master.
Speaker 1: I shall die, he said.
Speaker 1: I shall die.
Speaker 1: I must not die of this
fool's sickness in this way, this
way,
Speaker 1: and no other way.
Speaker 1: I shall be lost.
Speaker 1: I fear what will happen
in the future, not for what happens,
Speaker 1: but for the result of
what happens.
Speaker 1: I have indeed no fear of
pain, but only a fear of its result.
Speaker 1: Of terror.
Speaker 1: I feel that the time will
soon arrive when I must lose my life
Speaker 1: and my mind and my soul
together in some last battle with
that
Speaker 1: horrible enemy.
Speaker 1: Fear.
Speaker 1: Roderick Usher, whom I
had known as a boy, was now ill and
had
Speaker 1: asked me to come to help
him.
Speaker 1: When I arrived I felt
something strange and fearful about
the
Speaker 1: great old stone house,
about the lake in front of it, and
about
Speaker 1: Usher himself.
Speaker 1: He appeared not like a
human being, but like a spirit that
had
Speaker 1: come back from beyond the
grave.
Speaker 1: It was an illness, he
said, from which he would surely
die.
Speaker 1: He called his sickness
fear.
Speaker 1: I have, he said, no fear
of pain, but only the fear of it its
Speaker 1: result of terror.
Speaker 1: I feel that the time will
soon arrive when I must lose my life
Speaker 1: and my mind and my soul
together in some last battle with
that
Speaker 1: horrible enemy, fear.
Speaker 1: I learned also, but
slowly, and through broken words
with doubtful
Speaker 1: meaning, another strange
fact about the condition of Usher's
Speaker 1: mind.
Speaker 1: He had certain sick fears
about the house in which he lived,
Speaker 1: and he had not stepped
out of it for many years.
Speaker 1: He felt that the house,
with its gray walls and the quiet
lake
Speaker 1: around it, had somehow,
through the long years, gotten a
strong
Speaker 1: hold on his spirit.
Speaker 1: He said, however, that
much of the gloom which lay so
heavily
Speaker 1: on him was probably
caused by something more plainly to
be seen,
Speaker 1: by the long continued
illness.
Speaker 1: Indeed, the coming death
of a dearly loved sister, his only
Speaker 1: companion for many years.
Speaker 1: Except for himself, she
was the last member of his family on
Speaker 1: earth.
Speaker 1: When she dies, he said
with a sadness which I can never
forget,
Speaker 1: when she dies, I will be
the last of the old, old family.
Speaker 1: The house of Usher.
Speaker 1: While he spoke, the Lady
Madeline, for so she was called,
passed
Speaker 1: slowly through a distant
part of the room, and without seeing
Speaker 1: that I was there, went
on.
Speaker 1: I looked at her with a
complete and wondering surprise,
with
Speaker 1: some fear, and yet I
found I could not explain to myself
such
Speaker 1: feelings.
Speaker 1: My eyes followed her.
Speaker 1: When she came to a door
and closed it behind her, my eyes
turned
Speaker 1: to the face of her
brother, but he had put his face in
his hands.
Speaker 1: And I could see only the
thin fingers through which his tears
Speaker 1: were flowing were whiter
than ever before.
Speaker 1: The illness of the Lady
Madeline had long been beyond the
help
Speaker 1: of her doctors.
Speaker 1: She seemed to care about
nothing.
Speaker 1: Slowly her body had grown
thin and weak, and often for a short
Speaker 1: period she would fall
into a sleep like the sleep of the
dead.
Speaker 1: So far she had not been
forced to stay in bed, but by the
evening
Speaker 1: of the day I arrived at
the house, the power of her
destroyer,
Speaker 1: as her brother told me
that night, was too strong for her.
Speaker 1: I learned that my one
sight of her would probably be the
last
Speaker 1: I would have.
Speaker 1: That the lady, at least
while living, would be seen by me no
Speaker 1: more.
Speaker 1: For several days
following, her name was not spoken
by either
Speaker 1: Usher or myself.
Speaker 1: And during this period I
was busy with efforts to lift my
friend
Speaker 1: out of his sadness and
gloom.
Speaker 1: We painted and read
together, or listened, as if in a
dream
Speaker 1: to the wild music he
played.
Speaker 1: And so, as a warmer and
more loving friendship grew between
Speaker 1: us, I saw more clearly
the uselessness of all attempts to
bring
Speaker 1: happiness to a mind from
which only darkness came, spreading
Speaker 1: upon all objects in the
world, it's never ending gloom.
Speaker 1: I shall always remember
the hours I spent with the master of
Speaker 1: the house of Usher.
Speaker 1: Yet I would fail in any
attempt to give an idea of the true
Speaker 1: character of the things
we did together.
Speaker 1: There was a strange light
over everything.
Speaker 1: The paintings which he
made me tremble, though I know not
why.
Speaker 1: To tell of them is beyond
the power of written words.
Speaker 1: If ever a man painted an
idea, that man was Roderick Usher.
Speaker 1: For me at least, there
came out of his pictures a sense of
fear
Speaker 1: and wonder.
Speaker 1: One of these pictures may
be told, although weakly in words,
Speaker 1: it showed the inside of a
room where the dead might be placed.
Speaker 1: With low walls, white and
plain.
Speaker 1: It seemed to be very deep
under the earth.
Speaker 1: There was no door, no
window, and no light or fire burned.
Speaker 1: Yet a river of light
flowed through it, filling it with a
horrible
Speaker 1: ghastly brightness.
Speaker 1: I have spoken of that
sickly condition of the senses which
made
Speaker 1: most music painful for
Usher to hear, but the notes he
could
Speaker 1: listen to with pleasure
were very few.
Speaker 1: It was this fact,
perhaps, that made the music he
played so
Speaker 1: different from most
music.
Speaker 1: But the wild beauty of
his playing could not be explained.
Speaker 1: The words of one of these
songs called The Haunted Palace I
Speaker 1: have easily remembered.
Speaker 1: In it I thought I saw,
and for the first time, that Usher
knew
Speaker 1: very well that his mind
was weakening.
Speaker 1: This song told of a great
house where a king lived, a palace,
Speaker 1: and a green valley, where
all was light and color and beauty
Speaker 1: and the air was sweet.
Speaker 1: In the palace were two
bright windows through which people
in
Speaker 1: that happy valley could
hear music and could see smiling
ghosts.
Speaker 1: Spirits moving around the
king.
Speaker 1: The palace door was of
the richest materials and red and
white.
Speaker 1: Through it came other
spirits whose only duty was to sing
in
Speaker 1: their beautiful voices
about how wise their king was.
Speaker 1: But a dark change came.
Speaker 1: The song continued, and
now those who enter the valley see
through
Speaker 1: the windows in a red
light, shapes that move to broken
music,
Speaker 1: while through the door,
now colorless, a ghastly river of
ghosts,
Speaker 1: laughing but no longer
smiling, rushes out forever.
Speaker 1: Our talk of this song led
to another strange idea in Usher's
Speaker 1: mind.
Speaker 1: He believed that plants
could feel and think, and not only
plants,
Speaker 1: but rocks and water as
well.
Speaker 1: He believed that the grey
stones of his house and the small
Speaker 1: plants growing on the
stones and the decaying trees had a
power
Speaker 1: over him that made him
what he was.
Speaker 1: Our books, the books
which for years had fed the sick
man's
Speaker 1: mind, were, as might be
supposed, of the same wild
character.
Speaker 1: Some of these books Usher
sat and studied for hours.
Speaker 1: His chief delight was
found in reading one very old book,
written
Speaker 1: for some forgotten
church, telling of the watch over
the dead.
Speaker 1: At last, one evening he
told me that the lady Madeline was
alive
Speaker 1: no more.
Speaker 1: He said he was going to
keep her body for a time in one of
the
Speaker 1: many vaults inside the
walls of the building.
Speaker 1: The worldly reason he
gave for this was one with which I
felt
Speaker 1: I had to agree.
Speaker 1: He had decided to do this
because of the nature of her
illness,
Speaker 1: because of the strange
interest in questions of her
doctors,
Speaker 1: and because of the great
distance to the graveyard where
members
Speaker 1: of his family were placed
in the earth.
Speaker 1: We too carried her body
to its resting place.
Speaker 1: The vault in which we
placed it was small and dark, and in
ages
Speaker 1: past it must have seemed
strange and bloody scenes.
Speaker 1: It lay deep below that
part of the building where I myself
slept.
Speaker 1: The thick door was of
iron, and because of its great
weight
Speaker 1: made a loud, hard sound
when it was opened and closed.
Speaker 1: As we placed the lady
Madeline in this room of horror, I
saw
Speaker 1: for the first time the
great likeness between brother and
sister.
Speaker 1: And Usher told me, then,
that they were twins.
Speaker 1: They had been born on the
same day.
Speaker 1: For that reason, the
understanding between them had
always been
Speaker 1: great, and the tie that
held them together was very strong.
Speaker 1: We looked down at the
dead face one last time, and I was
filled
Speaker 1: with wonder.
Speaker 1: As she lay there, the
Lady Madel looked not dead, but
asleep,
Speaker 1: still soft and warm,
though to the touch, cold as the
stones
Speaker 1: around us.
Speaker 1: Part three I was visiting
an old friend of mine, Rodrigue
Usher,
Speaker 1: in his old stone house,
his palace where a feeling of death
Speaker 1: hung on the air.
Speaker 1: I saw how fear was
pressing on his heart and mind.
Speaker 1: Now his only sister, the
Lady Madeline, had died, and we had
Speaker 1: put her body in its
resting place, in a room inside the
cold
Speaker 1: walls of the palace, a
damp, dark vault, a fearful place.
Speaker 1: As we looked down upon
her face, I saw that there was a
strong
Speaker 1: likeness between the two.
Speaker 1: Indeed, said Usher, we
were born on the same day, and the
tie
Speaker 1: between us has always
been strong.
Speaker 1: We did not long look down
at her, for fear and wonder filled
Speaker 1: our hearts.
Speaker 1: There was still a little
color in her face, and there seemed
Speaker 1: to be a smile on her
lips.
Speaker 1: We closed the heavy iron
door and returned to the rooms
above,
Speaker 1: which were hardly less
gloomy than the vault.
Speaker 1: And now a change came in
the sickness of my friend's mind.
Speaker 1: He went from room to room
with a hurried step.
Speaker 1: His face was, if
possible, whiter and more ghastly
than before.
Speaker 1: And the light In his eyes
had gone.
Speaker 1: The trembling in his
voice seemed to show the greatest
fear.
Speaker 1: At times he sat looking
at nothing for hours as if listening
Speaker 1: to some sound I could not
hear.
Speaker 1: I felt his condition
slowly but certainly gaining power
over
Speaker 1: me.
Speaker 1: I felt that his wild
ideas were becoming fixed in my own
mind.
Speaker 1: As I was going to bed
late in the night on the seventh or
eighth
Speaker 1: day after we placed the
Lady Madeline within the vault, I
experienced
Speaker 1: the full power of such
feelings.
Speaker 1: Sleep did not come.
Speaker 1: While the hours passed,
my mind fought against the
nervousness.
Speaker 1: I tried to believe that
much, if not all, of what I felt was
Speaker 1: due to the gloomy room,
to the dark wall coverings, which in
Speaker 1: a rising wind moved on
the walls.
Speaker 1: But my efforts were
useless.
Speaker 1: A trembling I could not
stop filled my body, and fear
without
Speaker 1: reason caught my heart.
Speaker 1: I sat up looking into the
darkness of the room, listening.
Speaker 1: I do not know why.
Speaker 1: To certain low sounds
which came when the storm was quiet.
Speaker 1: A feeling of horror lay
upon me like a heavy weight.
Speaker 1: I put on my clothes and
began walking nervously around the
room.
Speaker 1: I had been walking for a
very short time when I heard a
slight
Speaker 1: step coming toward my
door.
Speaker 1: I knew it was Usher.
Speaker 1: In a moment I saw him at
my door.
Speaker 1: As usual, very white.
Speaker 1: But there was a wild
laugh in his eyes.
Speaker 1: Even so, I was glad to
have his company.
Speaker 1: And have you not seen it?
Speaker 1: he said.
Speaker 1: He hurried to one of the
windows and opened it to the storm.
Speaker 1: The force of the entering
wind nearly lifted us from our feet.
Speaker 1: It was indeed a stormy
but beautiful night, and wildly
strange.
Speaker 1: The heavy, low hanging
clouds which seemed to press down
upon
Speaker 1: the house, flew from all
directions against each other,
always
Speaker 1: returning and never
passing away in the distance.
Speaker 1: With their great
thickness, they cut off all light
from the
Speaker 1: moon and the stars.
Speaker 1: But we could see them
because they were lighted from below
by
Speaker 1: the air itself, which we
could see rising from the dark lake
Speaker 1: and from the stones of
the house itself.
Speaker 1: You must not you you
shall not look out at this, I said
to Usher
Speaker 1: as I led him from the
window to a seat.
Speaker 1: This appearance which
surprises you so has been seen in
other
Speaker 1: places too.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the lake is the
clause.
Speaker 1: Let us close this window.
Speaker 1: The air is cold.
Speaker 1: Here is one of the
stories you like best.
Speaker 1: I will read and you shall
listen, and thus we will live
through
Speaker 1: this fearful night
together.
Speaker 1: The old book which I had
picked up was one written by a fool
Speaker 1: for fools to read, and it
was not, in truth, one that Usher
Speaker 1:liked.
Speaker 1: It was, however, the only
one within easy reach.
Speaker 1: He seemed to listen
quietly.
Speaker 1: Then I came to a part of
the story in which a man, a strong
Speaker 1: man full of wine, begins
to break down a door, and the sound
Speaker 1: of the dry wood as it
breaks can be heard through all the
forest
Speaker 1: around him.
Speaker 1: Here I stopped, for it
seemed to me that from some very
distant
Speaker 1: part of the house, sounds
came to my ears like those of which
Speaker 1: I had been reading.
Speaker 1: It must have been this
likeness that had made me notice
them,
Speaker 1: for the sounds
themselves, with the storm still
increasing,
Speaker 1: were nothing to stop or
interest me.
Speaker 1: I continued the story and
read how the man now entering
through
Speaker 1: the broken door discovers
a strange and terrible animal of the
Speaker 1: kind so often found in
these old stories.
Speaker 1: He strikes it and it
falls, with such a cry that he has
to close
Speaker 1: his ears with his hands.
Speaker 1: Here again I stopped.
Speaker 1: There could be no doubt.
Speaker 1: This time I did hear a
distant sound very much like the cry
Speaker 1: of the animal in the
story.
Speaker 1: I tried to control myself
so that my friend would see nothing
Speaker 1: of what I felt.
Speaker 1: I was not certain that he
had heard the sound, although he had
Speaker 1: clearly changed in some
way.
Speaker 1: He had slowly moved his
chair so that I could not see him
well.
Speaker 1: I did see that his lips
were moving as if he were speaking
to
Speaker 1: himself.
Speaker 1: His head had dropped
forward, but I knew he was not
asleep for
Speaker 1: his eyes were open and he
was moving his body from side to
side.
Speaker 1: I began reading again and
quickly came to part of the story
Speaker 1: where a heavy piece of
iron falls on a stone floor with a
ringing
Speaker 1: sound.
Speaker 1: These words had just
passed my lips when I heard clearly
but
Speaker 1: from far away a loud
ringing sound, as if something of
iron
Speaker 1: had indeed fallen heavily
upon a stone floor or as if an iron
Speaker 1: door had closed.
Speaker 1: I lost control of myself
completely and jumped up from my
chair.
Speaker 1: Usher still sat, moving a
little from side to side.
Speaker 1: His eyes were turned to
the floor.
Speaker 1: I rushed to his chair.
Speaker 1: As I placed my hand on
his shoulder, I felt that his whole
body
Speaker 1: was trembling.
Speaker 1: A sickly smile touched
his lips.
Speaker 1: He spoke in a low, quick
and nervous voice as if he did not
Speaker 1: know I was there.
Speaker 1: Yes, he said.
Speaker 1: I heard it.
Speaker 1: Many minutes, many hours,
many days have I heard it, but I did
Speaker 1: not dare to speak.
Speaker 1: We have put her living in
the vault.
Speaker 1: Did I not say that my
senses were too strong?
Speaker 1: I heard her first
movements many days ago, yet I did
not dare
Speaker 1: to speak.
Speaker 1: And now that story.
Speaker 1: But the sounds were hers.
Speaker 1: Oh where shall I run?
Speaker 1: She is coming, coming to
ask why I put her there too soon.
Speaker 1: I hear her footsteps on
the stairs.
Speaker 1: I hear the heavy beating
of her heart.
Speaker 1: Here he jumped up and
cried as if he were giving up his
soul.
Speaker 1: I tell you, she now
stands at the door.
Speaker 1: The great door to which
he was pointing now slowly opened.
Speaker 1: It was the work of the
rushing wind, perhaps.
Speaker 1: But no.
Speaker 1: Outside that door a shape
did stare.
Speaker 1: The tall figure in its
grave clothes of Lady Madeline of
Usher.
Speaker 1: There was blood upon her
white dress.
Speaker 1: And the signs of her
terrible effort to escape were upon
every
Speaker 1: part of her thin before.
Speaker 1: For a moment, she
remained trembling at the door.
Speaker 1: Then with a low cry, she
fell heavily in upon her brother in
Speaker 1: her pain as she died at
last.
Speaker 1: She carried him down with
her.
Speaker 1: Down to the floor.
Speaker 1: He too was dead.
Speaker 1: Killed by his own fear.
Speaker 1: I rushed from the room.
Speaker 1: I rushed from the house.
Speaker 1: I ran.
Speaker 1: The storm was around me
in all its strength.
Speaker 1: I crossed the bridge.
Speaker 1: Suddenly, a wild light
moved along the ground at my feet,
and
Speaker 1: I turned to see where it
could have come from.
Speaker 1: For only the great house
and its darkness were behind me.
Speaker 1: The light was that of the
full moon?
Speaker 1: Of a blood-red moon,
which was now shining through that
break
Speaker 1: in the front wall.
Speaker 1: That crack which I
thought I had seen when I first saw
the palace.
Speaker 1: Then, only a little
crack.
Speaker 1: It now widened as I
watched.
Speaker 1: A strong wind came
rushing over me.
Speaker 1: The whole face of the
moon appeared.
Speaker 1: I saw the great walls
falling apart.
Speaker 1: There was a long and
stormy shouting sound, and the deep
black
Speaker 1: lake closed darkly over
all that remained of the house of
Usher.
Speaker 1: That was The House of
Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.
Speaker 1: And one thing about this
story is that it really is one of
the
Speaker 1: most perfect examples of
Gothic literature.
Speaker 1: Everything is very
clearly and plainly written.
Speaker 1: We don't have a lot of
big fancy words.
Speaker 1: So I'm under the
impression that it was uh printed
over like
Speaker 1: three three weeks because
the original story does say part
one,
Speaker 1: part two, part three, and
at the beginning of each new part,
Speaker 1: the author has explained
what's already happened.
Speaker 1: So when I was reading
this, I was like, mm-hmm, like with
the
Speaker 1: gray woman that is broken
into three portions, but there's no
Speaker 1: new explanation or
explanation at the top of each
portion.
Speaker 1: There's no summary recap
in case you missed it.
Speaker 1: Um and as the narrator, I
add a quick little in case you
missed
Speaker 1: it, but in terms of what
the writer provides, the writer
doesn't
Speaker 1: provide that.
Speaker 1: But for this piece, Poe
provides, and it just reminds me of
Speaker 1: um like modern day soap
operas, or oh gosh, I haven't seen a
Speaker 1: soap in years.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to say TV
shows and soaps from the 80s and
90s,
Speaker 1: where uh you would have
this kind of last week, last week on
Speaker 1: such a such, uh, Becky
was trapped in a well and Joseph was
Speaker 1: running through the
forest trying to find his dog.
Speaker 1: I don't know, right?
Speaker 1: I know soaps are far more
entertaining than what I just
described,
Speaker 1: but you would always have
these kind of recaps.
Speaker 1: Um, and not just soaps,
it would also be on TV shows where
they
Speaker 1: would have like a
to-be-continued or whatever.
Speaker 1: Anyway, so I thought that
was really cool to see that Poe had
Speaker 1: written that, and I just
found myself going, Were a lot of
authors
Speaker 1: doing that before him?
Speaker 1: Um, but I certainly could
not read this story without reading
Speaker 1: those recaps.
Speaker 1: So if you're just like,
she just talked about that.
Speaker 1: Why is she why is she
summarizing what we just talked
about
Speaker 1: in this story?
Speaker 1: Because that's how the
author wrote it, people.
Speaker 1: And I like to stay as
true as possible to the author's
original
Speaker 1: words.
Speaker 1: Actually, for none of the
stories that I've read for this
podcast,
Speaker 1: I haven't changed a
single word.
Speaker 1: Whatever's written,
that's what I'm reading.
Speaker 1: And if it's a naughty
word, I'm reading that too.
Speaker 1: Only the one that had one
story with a word that could be
considered
Speaker 1: naughty.
Speaker 1: So there you have it.
Speaker 1: There you have it.
Speaker 1: With all of that being
said, Wowzers, what a fun, fun ride.
Speaker 1: So this story was um
published in 1839 originally, and
this
Speaker 1: is long before Poe writes
The Raven, and then uh some of the
Speaker 1: other pieces that we've
heard on this podcast, like The
Black
Speaker 1: Cat and The Telltale
Heart.
Speaker 1: So in this story, you our
narrator is someone who has good
intentions,
Speaker 1: and he maintains these
good intentions throughout.
Speaker 1: He is not the perpetrator
of evil and bad things.
Speaker 1: That's his homie Usher.
Speaker 1: That's his friend Usher,
and um even Usher didn't really mean
Speaker 1: to bury his sister early.
Speaker 1: He was just, you know,
hmm, let's see, a little crazy.
Speaker 1: He had a mental
condition.
Speaker 1: Maybe he was
schizophrenic or something.
Speaker 1: Um because he had a
mental disorder.
Speaker 1: Not it was beyond just
nervousness, people.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest.
Speaker 1: He's his senses are
extremely heightened, he's hearing
things,
Speaker 1: he's imagining things,
and um, these are all kind of
associated
Speaker 1: with levels of um
schizophrenia.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he is feeling,
seeing, hearing things, and he just
Speaker 1: kind of misinterprets his
sister's dead-like sleep for
actually
Speaker 1: being dead.
Speaker 1: And isn't it interesting?
Speaker 1: He's like, No, we're not
gonna get the doctors.
Speaker 1: Those doctors couldn't
fix her to begin with, they're not
gonna
Speaker 1: understand.
Speaker 1: So you can kind of see,
you can kind of see how such a
mistake
Speaker 1: could happen.
Speaker 1: So, on the one hand, you
do well, I kind of wonder, did he
just
Speaker 1: not like his sister?
Speaker 1: Was he just waiting for
the day for her to die?
Speaker 1: Okay, so we have this
guy's fixation on the fact that it's
just
Speaker 1: the two of them, and
someday he's going to be alone.
Speaker 1: That in and of itself is
just a clear fixation and an
obsession.
Speaker 1: But one could look at it
in a little bit of a little bit of
Speaker 1: a mischievous way and say
maybe he became so fixated on the
Speaker 1: fact that he would be
alone someday that he just started
to
Speaker 1: like resent his sister
and you know, the first sign of
death.
Speaker 1: Whoop, let's just go
ahead and bury her.
Speaker 1: Okay, that could be a
possibility, but it it probably is
just
Speaker 1: more that he himself was
not well.
Speaker 1: He was just so fixated on
the idea that someday he's going to
Speaker 1: be alone.
Speaker 1: I mean, you have to
imagine that before it was just him
and
Speaker 1: his sister, the parents
were around, and the parents died,
and
Speaker 1: then they're like, okay,
well, it's just us and these
servants.
Speaker 1: That's a long time to not
be with other people.
Speaker 1: Um, and you know, the
sister was at that age where she
should
Speaker 1: have been married, but
she's not.
Speaker 1: She's not married, she's
not courting any suitors, and so
these
Speaker 1: two are pretty much
reclusives, and well, you know, so
obsessed
Speaker 1: with this idea of being
alone that he just jumps the gun.
Speaker 1: And looking at the idiom,
jumping the gun, let's also just
take
Speaker 1: this a step further and
say, like the Olympic athlete who
accidentally
Speaker 1: started running before
the gun was fired, before the sound
was
Speaker 1: made, and then was
disqualified.
Speaker 1: That's what happens here.
Speaker 1: Roderick Usher literally
was so consumed of with the idea of
Speaker 1: her going, right?
Speaker 1: So fixated on it that at
the first he just kind of builds it
Speaker 1: up so much in his mind
that he goes a little too soon.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 1: Now yes, we do see
lovely, lovely, lovely um staples of
gothic
Speaker 1: literature here.
Speaker 1: We have the dark shadows,
the creepy old palace house.
Speaker 1: We have uh ghostly
figures that move move through the
home,
Speaker 1: the sister herself, but
Roderick is also barely alive.
Speaker 1: Um we have descriptions
of blood red moon and you know,
eerie
Speaker 1: sound.
Speaker 1: So yeah, all this stuff
is just absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 1: It it's what you want in
your gothic literature.
Speaker 1: So this is a textbook
classic gothic literature.
Speaker 1: With that being said, um,
you know, we don't have any like
monsters
Speaker 1: or anything like that.
Speaker 1: The sister isn't really
dead, she manages to get out of this
Speaker 1: vault and comes back and
she's like, uh, hey guys, gee, think
Speaker 1: you made a mistake.
Speaker 1: I like that she is like
has enough life in her to come and
uh
Speaker 1: take her twin out.
Speaker 1: Just be like, you're
coming with me, guy, because you
screwed
Speaker 1: up.
Speaker 1: Um, and so they both die,
dun, dun, dun, and then the whole
Speaker 1: house collapsed.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 1: So, yes, beautiful
textbook elements of gothic
literature.
Speaker 1: We have the warning of
um, we have a couple of warnings
here.
Speaker 1: So we have the warning of
careful what you wish for.
Speaker 1: So it's not that he
wished he would someday um no longer
have
Speaker 1: his sister in his life.
Speaker 1: He doesn't say that.
Speaker 1: He just says, someday my
sister will be here and I'll be the
Speaker 1: only one.
Speaker 1: And he was just so
fixated on and consumed on that.
Speaker 1: And if you're into that
whole uh manifestation lifestyle,
you
Speaker 1: could say he manifested
um her passing.
Speaker 1: And so whether it's he
wished for it, manifested it, um, it
Speaker 1: just came true.
Speaker 1: It came true that she
wound up passing first, and he put
himself
Speaker 1: in a situation where he
then had to face what his big fear
was
Speaker 1: was what am I gonna do
without my sister?
Speaker 1: And I'm the only one.
Speaker 1: Well, to be honest, he
didn't have to live very long
without
Speaker 1: his sister.
Speaker 1: It was merely a matter of
seconds, perhaps.
Speaker 1: I wonder who was born
first.
Speaker 1: Like, they're twins.
Speaker 1: So who came out first?
Speaker 1: Her or him?
Speaker 1: I'm just curious.
Speaker 1: I'm just curious.
Speaker 1: And then I mean, you
could also say maybe he felt he
could not
Speaker 1: live without her.
Speaker 1: Isn't that interesting?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 1: Um, we've always been
together.
Speaker 1: We're twins.
Speaker 1: I can't live without my
twin.
Speaker 1: That's interesting.
Speaker 1: I mean, Poe does make
some interesting comments on twins.
Speaker 1: They're having a not just
a physical resemblance, but a bond
Speaker 1: that is unseen by others.
Speaker 1: They can kind of be in
tune with what each other is feeling
Speaker 1: and thinking.
Speaker 1: Though, you know, the
guy, uh, Roderick does say that he
heard
Speaker 1: some sounds early and he
felt some things, but he dared not
Speaker 1:speak.
Speaker 1: Isn't that interesting?
Speaker 1: So he knew that she
wasn't really dead.
Speaker 1: But why is it that he did
not speak?
Speaker 1: Is it because he was so
afraid that he had made the wrong
call
Speaker 1: by saying that she was
dead?
Speaker 1: Was he ashamed that he
had mistakenly claimed her to be
dead?
Speaker 1: Was he afraid that um she
was dead, but he was just doubting
Speaker 1: himself?
Speaker 1: And so, you know, the
idea of going back and having to
look
Speaker 1: at her just be like
confirmed, yep, she really is dead,
she's
Speaker 1: decaying, um, was that
something that was on his mind?
Speaker 1: Or was he really just
like, oh man, I messed up.
Speaker 1: I made this huge mistake,
and um don't want to tell anybody
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 1: She'll eventually die.
Speaker 1: Hmm, hmm, why did he dare
not speak?
Speaker 1: There's a lot of reasons
why we dare not speak things that we
Speaker 1: are questioning, doubtful
of, right?
Speaker 1: Um maybe you accidentally
uh I don't know, you've accidentally
Speaker 1: did something.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say like ran
over your neighbor's dog.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, no, that's
horrible.
Speaker 1: Why would I say that?
Speaker 1: So you you did something,
and then you later you question
yourself
Speaker 1: wait, did was did I do
the right thing?
Speaker 1: Think of the person who
testifies in a case or goes on jury
Speaker 1:duty.
Speaker 1: And then afterwards,
you're like, wait.
Speaker 1: I mean, I in the time, in
the moment, I was swore I did the
Speaker 1: right thing.
Speaker 1: But now that I see and
hear all this other evidence that
everyone
Speaker 1: on social media has had
access to, did I make the right
call?
Speaker 1: Did I do the right thing?
Speaker 1: I didn't have all this
information.
Speaker 1: So anyway, there's that.
Speaker 1: Um, we also have this big
question of what do we owe our
friends?
Speaker 1: Okay, so our narrator had
not seen Roderick Usher for years,
Speaker 1: hadn't seen them since
they were boys.
Speaker 1: That's a long time.
Speaker 1: That's a long time.
Speaker 1: You haven't seen him in a
while, and you're being called upon.
Speaker 1: And he goes partly
because it's a friend saying he's
ill, and
Speaker 1: partly because he knows
he's this guy's only friend.
Speaker 1: And that in and of itself
is a reason to have pause when
someone
Speaker 1: says, Hey, friend, I know
we haven't spoken in years.
Speaker 1: You're my only friend.
Speaker 1: What have you been doing
in all those years?
Speaker 1: Clearly, you haven't been
taking that time to make new
friends.
Speaker 1: So what is wrong with
you?
Speaker 1: What is what is so
unlikable about you that no one
wants to
Speaker 1: be your friend?
Speaker 1: Or what do you not like
about everyone else where you're not
Speaker 1: out there trying to make
friends?
Speaker 1: Now, this is really
interesting because we are at the
time of
Speaker 1: this recording in 2026,
this is a time when a lot of people
Speaker 1: want to stay indoors and
um don't want to make friendships
with
Speaker 1: people outside of people
they already know.
Speaker 1: And in some cases, if you
are someone who is not attending a
Speaker 1: school with strangers,
like a public school, um, and you
are
Speaker 1: just doing the homeschool
life and you're not uh involved in
Speaker 1: extracurriculars outside
of your um family, then the people
Speaker 1: you know is a very, very
small circle.
Speaker 1: And then if you find
yourself only connecting with others
through
Speaker 1: social media, I only like
my online friends, or perhaps you
Speaker 1: find social media to be
scary and mean, and so I only like
my
Speaker 1: chat GPT friend.
Speaker 1: Um, you know, there are
stories of people having
relationships,
Speaker 1: romantic relationships
with AI characters and creating
these
Speaker 1: characters to respond to
them the way that they want the
character
Speaker 1: to respond to them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all that stuff is
happening, people.
Speaker 1: And so, um, Roderick,
well ahead of his time, in the sense
that
Speaker 1: he only really had his
immediate family.
Speaker 1: There was no reason for
him to go out to to the world into
university
Speaker 1: or anything like that
because his family had money, and
maybe
Speaker 1: the trust is set up
where, you know, once he's declared
sick,
Speaker 1: he does not have to work.
Speaker 1: Maybe he never had to
work.
Speaker 1: He, you know, the the
family business ran on its own, or
the
Speaker 1: family trust is in the
hands of legal eagles who just make
sure
Speaker 1: that the various
financial things are taken care of.
Speaker 1: We don't really know,
right?
Speaker 1: But what do we owe our
friends?
Speaker 1: Would you have gone to
your friend's bedside if your friend
Speaker 1: who you had not spoken to
in like a decade or more was saying,
Speaker 1: Hey, I'm sick, come be
with me, come help me, even though
you
Speaker 1: can't really help me.
Speaker 1: Interesting.
Speaker 1: Also, our narrator, he
looks at this girl.
Speaker 1: He's like, Well, she
actually does not look dead, but I
touched
Speaker 1: her and she's cold.
Speaker 1: So she's probably dead.
Speaker 1: Like the narrator never
says, Maybe we should I know you
don't
Speaker 1: want the doctors
involved, but I mean we are talking
about whether
Speaker 1: she's alive or dead, so
we should really call a doctor.
Speaker 1: We should do that.
Speaker 1: Come on, guy.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, and
that's the thing is when you are
surrounded
Speaker 1: by people who think a
certain way, and after a few days of
being
Speaker 1: around people who think a
certain way, you can start to
question
Speaker 1: your own um morals and
sense of reality.
Speaker 1: And so, yeah, I can see
it.
Speaker 1: I I certainly remember
questioning uh what I knew to be
true
Speaker 1: when uh spending time
with people who have uh mental
conditions
Speaker 1: that have them believing
other things, and you you want to be
Speaker 1: supportive and kind and
helpful, um, but it's a fine, fine
line
Speaker 1: that you'll be walking,
fine tightrope line.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: Um, what's up with the
servants?
Speaker 1: The servants they they
take the horse and uh they show him
where
Speaker 1: Roderick uh is in the
home, and do they just all hide
away?
Speaker 1: We never see or hear from
these servants again.
Speaker 1: So that is one issue with
this story.
Speaker 1: I would have really liked
if Poe had said, you know, due to
Speaker 1: the storm or due to my
visit, the servants all were all
given
Speaker 1: the the week off.
Speaker 1: Something, you know, just
get them out of the picture.
Speaker 1: Because otherwise, you've
got these servants who know this
lady
Speaker 1: has died.
Speaker 1: And I mean, on one hand,
I can see a servant being like,
well,
Speaker 1: don't question my master,
but does it've been a week that her
Speaker 1: body's been down there.
Speaker 1: So does no one go into
town and be like, yes, I'm here to
pick
Speaker 1: up the groceries for the
home.
Speaker 1: And by the way, did you
know that the lady died?
Speaker 1: Like, something.
Speaker 1: People just think
something.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Whatever.
Speaker 1: So what do we owe our
friends?
Speaker 1: At what point do you do
you have to say, hmm, you know what,
Speaker 1: friends?
Speaker 1: I disagree with you, or I
think you need help.
Speaker 1: Um, just because Roderick
Usser says, I think you can be here
Speaker 1: and provide some good for
me, some aid.
Speaker 1: Doesn't doesn't mean you
never doesn't mean that you don't
have
Speaker 1: to say, hey, we've done
things your way.
Speaker 1: And I know you said the
doctors weren't very helpful and
there's
Speaker 1: no medicine that really
helps this.
Speaker 1: It's just like having a
friendship got you on that.
Speaker 1: But let's get out of the
house.
Speaker 1: Let's get out of the
house, friends.
Speaker 1: Let's go take a walk on
the grounds.
Speaker 1: Let's let's do something
not in these gloomy walls.
Speaker 1: Let's go into town.
Speaker 1: Um, and yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: The last the last day we
get this horrible storm.
Speaker 1: I don't know how many
days it was raining, but yeah, what
do
Speaker 1: we owe our friends?
Speaker 1: Okay, and do we trust
ourselves?
Speaker 1: So we reach a point where
the narrator's like, gosh, I don't
Speaker 1: even know if I trust my
own mind.
Speaker 1: I feel like the sickness
that has um taken over him is
starting
Speaker 1: to take over me too,
because I feel like my senses are
heightened
Speaker 1: and everything is just
seems weird.
Speaker 1: I'm a little on edge, and
now I can't sleep, and now I'm
pacing
Speaker 1: rooms.
Speaker 1: And you can see how this
spreads.
Speaker 1: And so this is an actual
comment on society that Poe makes,
Speaker 1: which is that hey, if you
spend your time in company of people
Speaker 1: who are always doom and
gloom, it's going to affect you.
Speaker 1: It's going to affect you
in the same way that if you spend
all
Speaker 1: your time with crazy
conspiracy theorists or all your
time with
Speaker 1: people who are just
really in denial about everything
that's
Speaker 1: going on in the world and
ridiculously happy all the time and
Speaker 1: just focused on, you
know, whatever, their religion, or
looking
Speaker 1: on the bright side all
the time.
Speaker 1: You might start to think,
well, I guess the world isn't that
Speaker 1: bad.
Speaker 1: And yeah, maybe, maybe I
too can manifest the early death of
Speaker 1: my loved ones.
Speaker 1: So then that way I can
experience what it will be like once
Speaker 1: they're gone, and I can
also reaffirm for myself that
someday
Speaker 1: they will leave me.
Speaker 1: Isn't that interesting?
Speaker 1: How people can spend so
much time thinking something that it
Speaker 1: becomes true.
Speaker 1: For example, the spouse
that is so fixated on the fact that
Speaker 1: someday their partner is
going to leave them.
Speaker 1: Oh, I know I know they're
gonna leave me.
Speaker 1: I know they're gonna
leave me.
Speaker 1: They don't love me
anymore.
Speaker 1: And so they start
checking the phone messages and
following
Speaker 1:them.
Speaker 1: And where are you doing?
Speaker 1: Where are you going?
Speaker 1: And so it becomes
smothering until the other person is
like,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, this is
too much.
Speaker 1: I wasn't going to leave
you, I wasn't cheating, but now I
feel
Speaker 1: like I might as well get
on out of here because you are
suffocating
Speaker 1: me and you're making me
feel like my just being present
isn't
Speaker 1: enough.
Speaker 1: And so I feel like, gosh,
I gotta go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, anyway, there's
that, there's that.
Speaker 1: So so much to learn from
this story, but uh just a strong
example
Speaker 1: of what tropes are in
gothic literature, as well as really
understandable
Speaker 1: characters and a soft
introduction to where Poe will
eventually
Speaker 1: go.
Speaker 1: So in his later stories,
we always have the surprise ending.
Speaker 1: This one was pretty
straightforward.
Speaker 1: Um, but in his later
stories, it's the big reveal.
Speaker 1: I, the narrator, have
done something truly wicked.
Speaker 1: And ha ha ha, this is
what it is.
Speaker 1: But you should have known
that from the beginning, because in
Speaker 1: the beginning I told you
I hinted that I did something
wicked.
Speaker 1: So we we do have some
foreshadowing this.
Speaker 1: We absolutely do have
some foreshadowing in the sense that
we
Speaker 1: are told very early on
that she would have these fits where
Speaker 1: she would go to sleep in
a dead-like state, but she was just
Speaker 1: asleep.
Speaker 1: And then, dun dun dun dun
dun, of course, where do we end
things?
Speaker 1: Speaking of anything,
we're gonna have to end my analysis
of
Speaker 1: this story.
Speaker 1: So I really hoped you
like it.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this
story and do come back for another
Gothic
Speaker 1: tale.