In case you’ve adopted Stephen King for any size of time, you already know the legendary creator isn’t shy about sharing his opinions on new horror motion pictures, the finest reveals on Netflix, or buzzy TV schedule releases. The Grasp of Macabre’s commentary is usually as entertaining as his novels, and this week he turned his consideration to what could be Mike Flanagan’s scariest sequence but, The Fall of the Home of Usher. His glowing overview alone is sufficient to make me wish to hit play on it another time.
King took to his official X (previously Twitter) account to share his ideas after lastly sitting down with the 2023 launch. Within the put up, which you’ll learn under, the creator explains he had missed the preliminary launch due to hip surgical procedure.
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Netflix): I missed this when it bowed as a consequence of hip surgical procedure, however this can be a case of delayed gratification. Scary, involving, with writing that is witty and strikes the plot. There is a case to be made for Mike Flanagan being the Quentin Tarantino of…August 24, 2025
Fairly excessive reward coming from the person who reshaped fashionable horror. King’s description of the present as “scary” and “involving” echoes what so many followers and critics famous when Usher dropped in 2023. Flanagan’s miniseries, which blends the gothic imagery of Edgar Allan Poe with modern greed and corruption, rapidly turned one among Netflix’s most talked-about restricted sequence. It isn’t only a nice Netflix horror sequence, however probably one among my favourite horror reveals of all time.
It’s not unusual for King to shine a highlight on horror creators he admires. Nonetheless, evaluating Flanagan to Quentin Tarantino is hanging. Tarantino is usually celebrated for transforming current genres into fashionable, referential masterworks. By likening Flanagan to him, King is actually saying Flanagan has finished one thing comparable for horror by remixing traditional influences, like Poe, right into a smooth and fashionable streaming occasion.
The Fall of the Home of Usher reimagines Edgar Allan Poe’s traditional by means of a contemporary lens, centering on Roderick Usher, the corrupt CEO of Fortunato Prescribed drugs, who loses all six of his youngsters inside a two-week span. Haunted by grief, he invitations his longtime nemesis, Assistant U.S. Lawyer C. Auguste Dupin, to his crumbling childhood house to admit his household’s darkest secrets and techniques. Informed throughout a number of timelines, the sequence explores the Ushers’ rise to energy, their unraveling legacy, and the sinister determine of Verna—an otherworldly presence tied to the household’s downfall.
On condition that Stephen King variations already make up an enormous a part of Mike Flanagan’s résumé, with Gerald’s Sport, Physician Sleep, and The Lifetime of Chuck beneath his belt, plus an upcoming Carrie TV sequence and Darkish Tower challenge nonetheless forward, King’s reward feels virtually like a “passing of the torch.” It alerts that the creator doesn’t simply see Flanagan as somebody able to adapting his work, however as a generational filmmaker shaping the horror style.
In case you caught The Fall of the Home of Usher when it first got here out, King displaying up late is a superb excuse to test it out once more, particularly since spooky season is developing. The combination of psychological horror, wild visuals, and sneaky darkish humor makes it price watching greater than as soon as. Plus, listening to King name the writing “witty” is a strong reminder of how sharp the dialogue actually is.
In case you haven’t streamed it but, now might be the right time. The sequence is obtainable in full with a Netflix subscription, and contemplating King himself has stamped it with approval, it’s exhausting to give you a greater advice.