In conclusion, Edgar Allen Poe was the master of Gothic horror fiction, and his stories are still popular today because of his abilities. Poe was not above parody and humor, however, and this tale shows that. It is so ghastly that it gently pokes fun at the entire genre of horror fiction, and it is so unbelievable it remains as one of his most memorable tales. "The Fall of the House of Usher" gives the reader much more than a glimpse into a macabre family and their estate. It gives the reader a true taste of Gothic fiction as it appeared at the time, and the elements of the story combine to form the perfect testament to the genre, a parody of everything it stood for and attempted to create.
References
Hustis, Harriet. "Reading Encrypted but Persistent": The Gothic of Reading and Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher'." Studies in American Fiction 27.1 (1999): 3.
Peeples, Scott. "11 Poe's 'Constructiveness' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher'." The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. Kevin J. Hayes. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2002. 178-188.
Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Fall of the House of Usher." Online-Literature.com. 2008. 24 Nov. 2008. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/31/
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