Gory delight or undercooked turkey? Netflix's The Fall of the House of Usher divides critics

Now that The Fall of the House of Usher has landed on Netflix, we can all let Mike Flanagan give us the creeps once more before Halloween arrives. Flanagan has built up an impressive body of work on the streaming service, including the wonderfully original Midnight Mass, so expectations are high for his newest series. Depending on who you ask, The Fall of the House of Usher may or may not live up to them.

Though it has only been out for a few days, The Fall of the House of Usher has already divided critics. Some have said that the series “gleefully” captures the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing, while others have praised it for refusing to give the Ushers any sort of redemption at the end. Most of these positive reviews have celebrated the grim, gory take on the source material and the way it weaves numerous references to Poe’s work throughout its eight-episode run.

Those same references have turned off other reviewers, who have said it was “unfortunate” that Flanagan decided to return to adapting existing stories when his first original work, 2021’s Midnight Mass, was such a refreshing take on the genre. Usher has been described as a “turkey” by one reviewer, who lamented the overreliance on source material which made the story feel both overstuffed and narratively thin.

Praise has been heaped onto the cast from almost every direction, however, with Mark Hamill turning in a breakout performance in the mini-series. However, some critics have found that The Fall of the House of Usher simply hasn’t lived up to the lofty standards Flanagan has set for himself.

Looking for more frightening shows to watch in the coming weeks? We have our full list of every series set to premiere on broadcast and streaming services that are just waiting for you to binge.