This Halloween, NeuNoir theatre presents a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s iconic tale of terror The Fall Of The House Of Usher at venues in the Midlands.

After being mysteriously summoned by a childhood friend, a visitor arrives at the remote House of Usher, a crumbling manor in a bleak, desolate landscape.

Inside he discovers the sickly and cadaverous Roderick Usher, the last surviving male heir, consumed by fear and afflicted by an inexplicable illness that seems to eerily mirror his dark, dank and decaying surroundings.

"I shall perish," predicts the ailed and confined Usher, "I must perish in this deplorable folly ..."

Published in 1839, Poe's claustrophobic tale was an instant sensation. A richly layered and atmospheric Gothic masterpiece featuring a supremely creepy house, the increasingly tense story explores themes of friendship and family, as well as madness, isolation, despair and ultimately death.

Born in 1809 in the US city of Boston, Edgar Allan Poe is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of the macabre ever. An accomplished poet, author, critic and editor, his most famous works include seminal detective story The Murders In The Rue Morgue, poem The Raven, and horror stories The Tell-Tale Heart, The Premature Burial, The Masque Of The Red Death and The Pit And The Pendulum.

Originally printed in magazine format, The Fall Of The House Usher is one of Poe’s most popular and fascinating stories. Open to multiple interpretations, there have been many adaptations, particularly for the screen, including a stark French 1928 silent, the colourful Vincent Price-starring 1960 take produced by Roger Corman, a 1989 reimagining with Oliver Reed and, most recently, a hit Netflix series. The story has also inspired rock, Goth, folk and jazz songs, operas by Debussy and Philip Glass, comic books, computer games, and several sequels.

Read by NeuNoir regular Richard Usher (Sweet Cherry Publishing’s Sherlock Holmes audiobook series – and no relation to Roderick), The Fall Of The House Of Usher is the Midlands-based company’s fifth Halloween production, following WH Hodgson’s Carnacki: The Ghost Hunter (2021), EF Benson’s The Outcast (2022), MR James’ Casting The Runes (2023), and Bram Stoker’s The Judge’s House (2024).

NeuNoir presents Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall Of The House Of Usher visits The Tree House Bookshop, Kenilworth, Warwickshire (Sat 25 Oct 2025); Back-To-Backs, Birmingham (Sun 26 Oct 2025); Greyfriars House and Garden, Worcester (Fri 31 Oct 2025) and Stourbridge Town Hall, Stourbridge, West Midlands (Sat 1 Nov 2025). For tickets and more information, see: neunoir.wordpress.com