Come in. Welcome. I'm E .G. Marshall. Welcome
to the sounds of suspense. To the fear you can
hear. Horror that makes the flesh crawl as with
maggots. Terror that turns the brain to jelly.
These mark the work of Edgar Allan Poe. For nearly
a century and a half readers have wondered at
the mad creations of his fevered brain even as
their blood ran cold with fear as shall yours
Please God help us Our mystery drama the fall
of the house of usher Was especially adapted
from the Edgar Allan Poe classic for the mystery
theater by George lofer and stars Kevin McCarthy
I'll be back with act one I must warn you that
there lies ahead for you a tale so gruesome that
when it ends you will know beyond doubt that
never in your life before have you experienced
such revulsion. Are you prepared for this? Come
then to a certain room where a man named Gabriel
Mannering sits writing in his diary. A certain
room. in the house of Usher I sit here writing
this diary when in truth were I not a fool I
should have already departed this frightful place
already I have sent such horrors in these first
hours of my visit that I I trembled the thought
of what may be in store for my friend Roderick
Usher and for me During the whole of this dull,
dark autumn day, I had passed on horseback through
a singularly dreary tract of country, and at
length found myself as the shades of evening
grew on, within a view of this bleak and melancholy
house, the House of Usher. I felt at once an
iciness, a sickening of my heart and wondered
what it was that so unnerved me. I was soon to
find out. You would be Mr. Mannering, sir? Yes.
My master awaits you. One moment, one moment,
my horse. We'd be well cared for, sir. That carriage
standing there, that black carriage, is there
another visitor? Only the doctor. He is attending,
Miss Madeline. This way, sir. Thank you. Follow
me now, sir. We turn here, the passage on our
left. Now, this to the right. I had no idea.
The house of Usher was so vast. Ah, yes. Vast.
Above... and below. Below? There are chambers,
underground, vaults, dungeons, that even I have
never seen, and I have lived here as servant
to Mr. Usher more than 30 years. Here we are,
sir. Come. Mr. Gabriel Mannering, sir. Oh, Gabriel.
My dear good friend, you've come. You've come
at last. Roderick. I came immediately on receipt
of your letter. It gave me cause for concern,
deep concern, after all, Roderick, not having
seen each other in years, nor corresponded even
to receive a letter from you, wasn't itself a
surprise. But the contents, Roderick, the contents
were a shock. How ill are you? Ill? I'm not ill?
Not ill. But in your letter... I am not ill!
Oh, I... I may have mentioned something of the
sort in my letter, but... More than mentioned,
you spoke of acute bodily illness, of oppressive
mental disorder, of a malady, a malady, dear
friend, so strange you could not bear to face
it alone. Now, that is why I'm here. That is
why I came at once. A terrible agitation in your
letter. Oh, mood, mood, mood. It was nothing
but mood. Mood of the moment. Come now. Kato,
the port. Good, good, good. Thank you, thank
you. I'll pour. I'll pour. And oh, Kato. Sir?
Dr. Windham is with my sister still? Yes, sir.
I would speak with him before he takes his leave
if he feels I can bear to... Sir? Nothing. Nothing.
Just say I wish to see him. Yes, sir. Vintage
port, Gabriel. You'll enjoy it. Its aroma, its
fragrant bouquet will delight your nostrils.
Its taste will fall sweet on your tongue. Your
health, good friend. And yours, Roderick. Tell
me about yourself, Gabriel. How has life gone
with you all these years? As all lives go, I
suppose. There's been the good, the bad, the
indifference. Yes, my mind has been mostly bad.
I've prospered my importing business in Baton
Rouge. Ruination that's been my lot, my fate.
The fate of the House of Usher. Well, if you
are financially in need... No, no! No, no, no!
I speak of another kind of ruination. Decadence.
I speak of the evil. The evil that molders within
my body, my mind, my house. House? Oh, no. No
house this. A tomb. A tomb that houses the living
dead. You are ill? Yes. Yes, I lied. I am ill
with what? Of what? I do not. Well, what do we
all fear, each of us? What living thing has not
known fear? It is within us, this fear. It rots
within us, as I rot within this house. But mark
you, good friend, whereas with others fear rides
like a restless maggot only now and again. With
me, with me it's ever present, a colorless sly.
me spreading engulfing drowning me drowning me
Through the foulest time of the year to be with
you and here I shall stay until you are well
again But you don't understand I shall never
get well of course you will no no No, she is
dying you see and I I your sister Is it she who
is dying? But it's she who is dying if it is
Mr. Usher, as you see, is not himself. I'm a
friend of his. Gabriel Manning of Baton Rouge.
Oh, how'd you know? Louis Windham. I can treat
your part in both of you. Now, now, Roderick.
My nerves, my nerves sometimes. Yes, I know,
and I'm sure Mr. Manning understands. You've
been taking the laudanum I prescribe now. I use
the last. Only yesterday. I'll see if you get
more. Oh, thank you, thank you. My sister. There's
no change. How long? How long? Before death.
I don't know. Your sister's malady baffles me.
I don't know what is killing her, nor do I know
what keeps her alive when in truth she's all
but dead. doctor for me to ask you. What do you
mean by that? Well, no, no, Mr. Madeline. Quite
simply, there have been times when Miss Usher
and Madeline has been devoid of all vital signs.
By this, I mean I've been unable at these times
to detect a pulse, blood pressure, any respiration
whatsoever. And yet, moments later, she's opened
her eyes and returned to the world of the living.
Strange, strange. I have encountered nothing
like it in years of practice. It's not too far
from the truth to say that she is dead, and yet
she lives on. Yes, yes. Like the house itself.
Now, Roderick, you mustn't... I tell you, we
are like this house, my sister and I. We are
this house. The house is us. The house is dead,
and yet it stands. Your aberration about this
house... It is no aberration! It's the truth.
The house of Usher crumbles, yet it will not...
Madeline is dead, yet she will not die. And as
for me... Oh, heaven, the horror that awaits
me! I'll send the Lordenum as soon as possible,
Mr. Manoring. There's little else I can do. Yes.
I have other patients to attend. Oh, no. Thank
heavens it's a moonlit night. I have many miles
to travel. Good night. Good night. Roderick.
Roderick. Yes? Roderick, I want to help you in
every way I can. That's why I'm here, but now
you must do your part to help yourself. What
do you mean? Well, I could be wrong, but it seems
to me you let yourself go to pieces all too easily.
This talk, this wild talk of your sister Madeline
being dead and yet alive. Now that's nonsense,
you know. No, no, no. Yes, well, I'll agree with
you with one thing and one thing only. In a way,
you have become this damnable house. No healthy
sane man could live here for long without beginning
to lose his sanity, without serious damage to
his nervous system. I've never seen such gloom.
Inside as well as out, this very room reeks of
dejection, despondency, undusted cobweb furnishings,
black drapes covering the window. Here, let me
throw them back and at least get some moonlight,
if not sunlight, into this place. There! That's...
public. What is it? There's a graveyard. I can
see it in the moonlight. The family graveyard,
yes. Who... Who would be walking in it at night?
What do you say? Where do you see it? There!
There! Amidst the headstones. doing out there
we've better go and find out in the doorway what
is it am i that horrifying to look upon among
the headstones of the usher graveyard, yet stands
in the doorway at the same time. Does her spirit
walk abroad? Is she that close to death? I'll
be back shortly with Act Two. Then I must ask
if you wish to go on and warn that if you do,
you will experience a kind of horror for which
I can find no words. Even Gabriel Mannering,
writing in his diary, found it difficult to express
his feelings in that moment of first meeting
with Madeleine Usher. I seek and cannot find
words to recreate the terror of that moment.
Not a woman, but a corpse stood before us in
the doorway of that awful room. The very woman,
or corpse, if you will. But an instant before,
Roderick Usher and I had glimpsed in the moonlight
graveyard beyond the window. If she is alive,
I thought, she should be dead. Fatuously, I said.
You are Madeline Usher? Yes. How do you do? I'm
Gabriel Mannering. I know. Ah, you winced as
you took my hand. What you felt, it's coldness.
No, no, no, no, I... Yes, yes, you need not disassemble
with me. Even now you find it hard not to stare
at the dark. patches on my face, the putrescence
that lives. Yes, thrives in my dying flesh. Madeline,
my dear sister, you should be lying down, resting.
You mustn't have wasted your energy. I wanted
to meet your friend, someone from the world of
life outside this house, this tomb. I wanted
to... Need it! She's falling! Catch her! Put
her on the couch, Gabriel. No, no, no, no, no.
Still, we'll carry her to her room. There's no
pulse. No heartbeat. You see? Will you ever help
me? It's impossible to see. Can you carry her
alone? She weighs nothing. Follow me, then. Oh,
what evil stalks the house of Usher! Help us,
dear Lord, please help us! Put her down, Gabriel.
Gabriel? In what? In that? It's her bed. A coffin.
Nevertheless, it is her bed. It's where she rests
and sleeps. And haven't you noticed what she's
wearing isn't a night dress? A shroud. Yes. She's
been ready for her burial for nearly a year now.
Oh, look, look. See? Her eyes. Her eyes are fluttered.
I have taken my oath. Not yet. Not yet. Gabriel,
my friend. Would you don't leave her like this
alone no company to cheer when she wakes she
may not waking again today she may not weaken
again Come no There's something something about
her something in her face that Reminds me Of
course, it's it's you. Oh you you see that the
family resemblance Obvious. In spite of what
the intimacy of death has done to the face, the
resemblance is still there. It's more than a
resemblance, Gabriel. What do you mean? We are
twins. As my friend spoke those words in that
chamber of death, a curious change came into
his face. It floats before me even now as I write,
a complexion gone so suddenly cadaverous. His
eyes large, liquid and luminous beyond comparison.
Thin and padded lips gone thinner, paler. For
a moment, he seemed scarce human. I had tried
to calm his fevered nerves by telling him it
was his sister, not he who was dying. And he
had cried out, You don't understand! you don't
understand and now in an instant i did understand
or at least the shadow of what he meant touched
me and i was filled with the dread a loathing
of what was to come that i cannot fully express
had i known the full truth of what lay before
us my loathing would have increased a hundredfold
and i should have fled the house of usher then
and there certainly I should not have found myself
at breakfast with Usher the following morning.
Another helping, Mr. Manoring? No more, Cato.
Then I can give you the message. A message from
whom? Miss Madeline. She wishes to see you at
your convenience. Well, then I'll go to her,
of course. Why do you look at me like that? And
now why do you turn away? Cato! Face me. Look
at me. What is it? Kato! Is it the odor? Yes,
sir. You best not go, Gabriel, or if you do,
another time. I don't understand. The odor, the
stench of putrefaction gets stronger at times
than at others. And you mean that she... Take
me to Miss Madeline at once, Kato. No, no! It
will sicken you, nauseate you, even... Well,
it can kill me and be damned to it, but I'll
not disregard a last wish of a dying woman. Unlike
you, Roderick, I do not fear death. Miss Husher?
Madeline? Are you too tired to speak now? Would
you prefer... I came back another time. How good
of you to come at all. It's a privilege to be
of use to you. A favor. I wish a favor. Anything
in my power. I want to die. I'm in such pain
that I want... When you sleep or dream you sleep,
don't fear death. I don't. I fear. I fear. You
fear what? Burial alive. Why would you have such
a fear? What makes you think you might be buried
alive? I promise. I promise you. You will not
be buried alive. Rest. Rest now. Rest. That is
what you meant, Roderick, is it not? Like her,
like your twin, you don't fear death so much
as you fear being buried alive. But that's part
of my fear. Yes. Only part? Well, I fear... Oh,
God, more than I can tell you. I... I... I...
I fear what happens in death. Another aberration.
As with the house, so with this. You are a man
given to aberration. And what of that? You make
this little sense. It's wind. You think because
you've got a finger, an aberration, it'll go
away? That it will cure itself if you but name
it? Reason. Common sense. Reason, common sense.
When you speak to me, to me and Usher of reason
and common sense, hm? Do you not know of the
madness that has tainted this family through
its history? From the beginnings of a house of
Usher, this house, this, this family, until now,
until Madeline and me, the last of the Ushers,
from beginning to end, from rise to... to fall.
Roderick. Rise to fall. Roderick. From rise to
fall. I had not thought on it before but it is
what it... Your Lordship, sir, from Dr. Wyndham.
Oh, thank heaven. It has come none too soon.
Mr. Mannering, sir. Hmm? What? Oh, yes. Yes,
Kato. You've been sitting here in the graveyard
for nearly two hours. That long? Yes, sir. Tell
me, Cato, how long have you been servant to Mr.
Usher? More than 30 years, sir. But I... I thought
I told you that the night you arrived, just a
week ago. Did you? Then I forgot. Were you here
when the mother died, the mother of Mr. Roderick
and Miss Madeline? Why do you ask such a question,
Miss Madeline? I don't know. I don't know, really,
except... I've been dwelling on what Miss Madeline
told me about her mother. Buried alive. Was she
indeed? Sir, don't ask such questions. Don't
dwell on such thoughts. Why not? It was discovered
the mother had been buried alive? Yes. Tell me
about it. Sir, I entreat you. Understand. You
cannot stay in the house of Usher. No one can
without something... I... I know not what, but
something evil taking possession of his mind,
his spirit, his very soul. It will happen to
you. It is happening to you. No. You've been
drawn here to this spot. You've been sitting
here in the damp and chill for hours. because
you too have taken the first step toward madness.
How did they discover she'd been buried alive?
Sir, I beg you, turn your thoughts away from...
How? If you must hear it, a few weeks after she'd
been buried, the coffin placed in that vault
you see under the trees, it was discovered that...
She had been buried wearing a valuable ring a
ring. It contained a stone worth a fortune It
had been hers. She'd always worn it and when
the undertaker and coffin her He neglected to
remove it He had no idea of its worth or surely
he'd have inquired whether the family wished
her to wear it to the grave And as you will understand
Such was miss Madeline's and mr. Roderick's grief
They didn't think of the ring until weeks later.
And decided to retrieve it. Yes. We went to the
vault. The three of us. Slip back the slab that
covers it and... Sir, let us go in. Finish. Finish
what you're telling me. There lay the coffin.
The lid was in two parts. A lower part that...
covered her body from the waist down, and up
apart from the waist up. This I pried up, and
there, there... Go on. She lay face down. Her
hands, her hands had torn chunks of hair out
by the roots. Such was... The agony of terror.
Hands, do I say? Claws. They have become rigid
in the death rows. Yes. Yes? We turned her over.
Her face. Oh, my God, we will us. Her face. I
cannot describe. I cannot. I cannot. I... Enough.
Enough, then. This chill is getting to me. No,
no! Quickly. Come. Help us, what is that? They're
coming toward us from the house. Roderick! Help
me! Help me! Roderick! What is it, man? A corpse!
What? What is it? She tried to take me to the
grave with her. She tried to drag me into her
coffin. No, no, no. Roderick, Roderick, pull
yourself together and tell us. I went down the
chamber to see how she was. I called her name
again and again and again and no answer. I felt
for a pulse, none. I lay my head against her
breast, no heartbeat, and then... Oh, God! Her
arms were entwined! He must have dragged her
half out of the coffin. Come. We must put her
back in. Kato, I dare not touch... would be gone
at least two hours should you change your mind
you'll not be able to find your way back to the
library in that maze of carbon don't worry about
it I shall stay here I made her a promise that
she'd not be buried alive and I mean to keep
that promise Kato beginning now of Usher, Gabriel
Mannering seats himself beside the coffin of
Madeleine Usher to keep his vigil and his promise,
and wonders if he himself may not be going mad.
I'll be back shortly with Act 3. The shatter
the human mind haunts the house of Usher, hangs
like a shroud in the air, drips on the spirit
like the very slime upon the decaying walls.
As Gabriel Mannering sits beside the coffin of
Madeleine Usher, he feels this terror seeping
into him. Seeping into me like a rising tide
of pollution. Cato said he would be gone two
hours in fetching dr. Wingham, but to me it seemed
like 20 before I heard his returning footsteps
You don't look well, I'm all right sir you deceive
yourself Never mind. I haven't seen him as us
here. Thank you No heartbeat. None whatever.
No pulse. No vital signs at all. She is gone,
then. Hey, Mr. Mallory. I have attended her in
this strange illness for nearly a year. I've
seen her in this state four times before. What's
to be done? What's indeed? Well, I would wait
a few days at least and then... And then I should
bury her. No. No? She feared to be buried alive.
Yes, I know. Her mother. You attended her? No,
no. Another man. From what I've been able to
learn, I judge her illness was similar, just
as unaccountable as baffling. Well, Mr. Manoring,
she did indeed fear the same fate her mother
suffered, but I should think that after, say...
Three or four days. I say no at least at least
a week. No No, two even three. You don't know
what you're saying You can't keep a body for
two or three weeks Especially hers why especially
hers. Well, look at her man here See under the
skin of the cheeks There's great benches She's
partially decomposed already. I gave her my word,
doctor. I said we would make sure. There is an
evil in this house. A sinister, malevolent thing
that fastened itself on the ushers years ago.
And is beginning to fasten itself on you. Now,
hear me out! I have not seen you in some days.
The moment I came into this room, I saw it. I
tell you I saw it. The change in you. The sickening
in you. The... I do not use this word lightly,
Mr. Maring. The insanity in you. You are right.
I, too, have sensed. Well, no matter. I am not
given easily to fancies either. However, I am
given to honouring your promise. I gave Mavanesher
my word she would not be buried alive, and she
will not be. Now, I see that I cannot dissuade
you. Very well. Do as you wish. And may God help
you. by her coffin for yet another hour or so,
making sure there were no signs of life. Then
I returned to the library, led there, of course,
by Cato, for I, well, I could never have found
my own way through that maze of corridors and
passages. I found Roderick Usher seated, bolt
upright in a wing chair, staring at, I know not
what, I, Roderick, Roderick, I must talk to you.
Do you hear me? Yes. Now, Roderick, as I told
you, I promised your sister to take every precaution
against her being buried alive. She is dead.
I know it in my heart, my soul. I know it. I
believe so, too. But we must be certain. Now,
that presents a problem. Roderick. Are you listening?
Problem. Yes. Decomposition. If she is dead,
she will decompose. And after a period of days,
well, if you could imagine... Days? Days of what?
Of visiting her coffin at least every 12 hours,
say, to make sure she's dead. Are you mad? We
must keep her body. One week, two. Now the question
is, where? Where? We'll have to leave the coffin
open in case she should regain her senses. On
the other hand, if she is indeed dead, then...
There are walls deep down beneath the house.
We could put the coffin in one of those. Good,
good, good. We'll do that then. Yes, we'll do
just that. Usher and I arranged for the temporary
entombment of Madeline, his twin. The vault,
so long unopened that our torches were half -smothered
in its oppressive atmosphere, were small, damp,
and entirely without means of admission of light,
lying at great depth beneath the house. There.
There, Gabriel. It is done. We must come here
again. In no more than 12 hours. As you say.
As you say. Before he wished only to hurry, Madeleine.
Why now did Roderick become so compliant? Agree
so readily with what I said. If only I'd asked
myself that question. But I did not and in consequence
faced an unexpected problem. Why do you not believe
me? It isn't that I don't believe you, Roderick,
but I wish to see for myself. There is no need
for you to do it. I have done it. You have? I
have visited the coffin at least once every 12
hours, sometimes twice. She does not live. Take
my word for it. It is my word that concerns me.
I gave my word to her. Not yours. She is dead.
I assure you She is dead It was about that time
the sounds began The strange knockings creaking
perhaps had begun before but I had not heard
at first I would hear some Curious sound from
below and say to Roderick. What was that? What
was what? listen What is that? Rats, perhaps?
Rats? Well, you know the house is infested with
them. I've never heard rats make sounds like
that. I answered. Time went on. It seemed to
me the sounds grew louder, and I would say to
Roderick, listen. And he would answer. door banging
in the wind somewhere and i would say but there
is no wind and he would answer well then it's
something else don't bother me and then on that
fatal night that fatal night as we sat in the
library he just sitting staring vacantly at nothing
i trying to read but my mind focused on that
awful chamber of death far below and outside
the wind gathering for a storm it happened I
became aware of distinct, hollow, metallic, yet
muffled reverberation. Completely unnerved, I
leaped to my feet and looked at Usher. His eyes
were fixed before him, and throughout his whole
confidence there reigned a stony rigidity. I
said, Roderick, do you not hear it? Yes, I hear
it and have heard it as you have. Long, long,
many minutes, many hours, many days have I heard
it. Yet I dared not. I dared not speak. No! No,
touch me not! I am accursed! Accursed! I heard
the sounds, as did you, but I dared not speak
and dared not go. Not go? My God, are you telling
me that not once, not once have I gone down to
sea? I dared not! I dared not! She comes. She
comes for me. Listen. Now listen and know. We've
heard the rending of the coffin, the grating
of the iron hinges of a prison, our struggles
within the carpet archway of the vault, and now,
now, she comes for me. In a moment she'll be
here. I... Hear her footsteps on the stair. I
hear the horrible beating of her heart. She comes
for me, she comes. I tell you, she stands outside
the door. And as if in the superhuman energy
of his utterance, there had been found the potency
of a spell. The huge antique panels to which
he pointed drew slowly back. And outside those
doors did stand the towering and enshrouded figure
of Miss Madeline. There was blood on her white
robes and evidence of some bitter struggle on
every portion of her putrefied frame. For an
instant she remained trembling and reeling to
and fro upon the threshold. A man with a moaning
cry fell heavily inward on her brother, and in
her violent and now final death agony, poured
him to the floor. The corpse, a victim to the
terrors of all he had anticipated. This is E
.G. Marshall. I shall return shortly. The manuscript
of the fall of the house of Usher ends thus.
I fled from the house, leading all behind me.
As I ran, I heard a sound so horrendous it made
me stop and turn. My brain reeled as, looking
back, I saw the mighty walls of the house burst
to sun. And, in a few moments, the moon, breaking
through the scudding clouds, a blood -red moon,
revealed the end. of The House of Usher. Our
cast included Kevin McCarthy, Arnold Moss, Marion
Seldas, and Robert Dryden. The entire production
was under the direction of Hyman Brown. This
is E .G. Marshall inviting you to return to our
mystery theater for another adventure in the
macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams.