A Crossover in Poe Country

Edgar Allan Poe’s now-renowned Gothic short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” originally appeared in Burton's Gentleman’s Magazine back in 1839. It has since been adapted for the cinema and the theater, and is now to be brought our way again on television. This news comes from In Reference to Murder:

Frank Langella has been tapped to lead the cast of The Fall of the House of Usher, Mike Flanagan’s eight-part limited series for Netflix based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. Also starring are Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, and Mark Hamill. Langella will play Roderick Usher, the towering patriarch of the Usher dynasty; McDonnell will play Roderick’s twin sister and the hidden hand of the Usher dynasty; Lumbly will take on Poe’s legendary investigator, C. Auguste Dupin; and Gugino and Hamill will portray yet-to-be disclosed characters. First published in 1839, Poe's story features themes of madness, family, isolation, and identity.

“Just hold on one darn minute here,” you may be saying, “Carl Lumly is to portray C. Auguste Dupin? I don’t even remember Dupin featuring in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’” Indeed, Poe’s once-wealthy fictional French crime-solver starred in three tales, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841), “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt” (1842), and “The Purloined Letter” (1844), but he is nowhere in evidence in “Usher.” Nonetheless, the folks behind this Netflix mini-series have decided to recruit him into their production.

Poe, dead these last 172 years, has no say in the matter.