The Fall of The House of Usher

I read this for historical reasons as a wannabe aficionado of the horror genre, but didn't enjoy it on first foray.

My approach was all wrong! I admit it.

Viewed as atmospheric and creepy but nothing more than an old-fashioned and far-fetched short story with low impact as horror.

By modern standards, Edgar Allan Poe doesn't resonate, but then again, that attitude was also wrong!

Why?

Because of the beautiful prose as the most important quality of his work.

Think of it as Shakespeare for the horror genre.

Imagine James Joyce cackling at his candle over a messed up choice of words.

Think about crunching ideas and words into tight little knots to get perfectly sounding alliteration.

This is what EAP is all about. Appreciation of the prose. Letting the atmosphere seep into your soul without understanding why.

If you're looking for horror in the standard sense of the word you may not find it here. This is psychological, ancient, cosmic and bizarre.

I struggle with EAP as I do with H.P. Lovecraft, as I always do with William Shakespeare, only later to appreciate the prose over the core content.

Thankfully, EAP is accessible in small doses like bite-size quirky chunks of literature to digest and absorb and then discard.

This short story introduced me to The Raven, a mesmerizing poem and ode to regret and loss.

By reading this, other Poe short stories are now more accessible and less obligatory trawls to prove you've read a particular body of work.