Return to the House of Usher

by Robert Poe

John Charles Poe, a small-town reporter in Crowley, Virginia, drinks a lot of bourbon and works because he doesn't have to. The heir to the family fortune, he has just received the most unusual part of the Poe legacy-the casket. The three-foot-long wooden box contains the notes and personal papers of the Poe men dating back to the eerie and mysterious Edgar Allen. It is passed on to every male Poe on his thirtieth birthday. John Charles has sworn not to divulge its secrets, but a call from his oldest friend, Roderick Usher, on the verge of a breakdown, may justify a broken oath.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Adult

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

So the most exciting thing about this book was the front page where it shows the family tree. I have not read the house of usher, so I thought this book would be intresting, but this book was boring.

I kept thinking that this book would get better, but it didn't. I would not recommend this to anyone.

[Donald Kirch · Rating 1 out of 5]

In my best "Poe" voice: "Dreadfully. Dreadfully and insane...This book SUCKS BALLS!" Poe should be spinning in his grave. To have a descendant of the family who disowned him after the death of his mother even attempt to earn from the fruits of his legacy. Boring is NOT the word for this... Cheers! :-)

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book on my shelves for nearly a year after picking it up in a secondhand bookshop in Calgary and I have been putting it off because I so wanted to love it but there was such a risk that I wouldn't given who it is trying to follow on from (been burned by such things before). And while it was as much of a disappointment as it could've been, it didn't live up to the original, no matter how much it tried to (including borrowing more than a few bits from). I'm torn between giving this 2 or 3 stars but have gone for 3 as if you take the story by itself without having read Edgar's original (or any of his work for that matter), this is half bad. It has a good bit of mystery and intrigue with interesting characters and a dash of horror, even the finale is pretty decent even with the Psycho-stsyle overtones. It is only when this is compared to the original that it really suffers and the story is far better suited to the 1800s where the lack of modern technology and medical practices make such occurances far more likely. And as much as I enjoyed Robert's writing, he doesn't quite have the flair for the dark and macabre as his ancestor, either that or modern and macabre just don't go together. If you can read it without comparisons, you'll enjoy it, if not you may want to give it a miss.

[Sarah Bradley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. But I did not. The author, I think, tried too hard to link Edgar Allan Poe's work to his own story. The main character feels familiar, and the reader wants to care about him, but the truth of it is, the draw to this book is the name Poe and once you're into the story itself there's little to hold you.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author did a great job- I could hardly put the book down! The ending was sad…

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found this book at Half Price a couple months ago, was intrigued by the concept: Based on the notes and nonfiction writings of Edgar Allan Poe...a descendant of EA Poe inherits his casket papers, which unlocks the mystery of the House of Usher and its descendants...

This was the worst book I've read in a very long time. It could hardly keep my attention. The plot was a complete waste -- modern day Madeleine and Roderick Usher (twins) running a sanatorium on the original site of the Usher house from the short story, complete with the 'tarn', ghosts, guilt, and drugs -- was really underdeveloped. The author tried to make a mystery out of a story that wasn't even worth mentioning, and then totally copped out on the ending.

Not happy at all with the pick, but thrilled to be done with it! I do not recommend it to ANYONE.

[Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher in Modern Day Virginia; a fun light read, if you're new to Poe and to mysteries.

[Jesús A.]

Not as good as the original but it have a goods moments