Sept. 1, 2026

This Day in Halloween: Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher" is published in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in 1839. / Photo courtesy of operabox.tv/Boston Lyric Opera

The Fall of the House of Usher is published in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine in 1839. Edgar Allan Poe’s classic gothic horror short story uses a large decaying house as a metaphor for the mental and physical health of its main characters. Considered along with The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat and The Raven as Poe’s most famous works, it influenced Herman Melville and Ray Bradbury and led to multiple film, TV, theater and musical adaptations.

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