The Netflix horror series The Fall of the House of Usher is the latest passion project from horror maestro Mike Flanagan to be released on the streaming platform. This haunting series debuted on October 12th, 2023, with eight episodes in its first season. There’s a lot to unpack from those eight hour-long episodes, as the series explores corporate greed, sibling rivalry, and supernatural unrest, whilst dipping into multiple timelines and a huge cast of characters. So, let’s unravel the many plot points from the series in our full recap of The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1.
Needless to say, this article contains spoilers for every episode of the season.
Recap – What happened in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1? (Episodes 1-8)
Episode 1 – “A Midnight Dreary”
All six of Fortunato CEO Roderick Usher’s children are dead. After the last funeral, Roderick invites attorney Auggie to his childhood home to confess to all of his past crimes, whilst also promising to explain how all the children actually died. Roderick starts his confession with a story about his mother’s death. Then he discusses the start of the trial held against him only 2 weeks ago.
Auggie was representing the prosecution in this trial. He scared the family, stating that he had an informant working for him. Roderick offered his siblings $50 million if they could find the informant. Back in the present, Roderick tells Auggie that he is to blame for his own children’s deaths, along with a mysterious woman called Verna.
Episode 2 – “The Masque of the Red Death”
Flashbacks follow Roderick’s son Perry Usher as he plans an exclusive masquerade ball in one of Fortunato’s condemned buildings. Meanwhile, Roderick pressures his daughter Victorine to fast-track her medical venture to human trials. He needs her heart device to work because he is dying from vascular dementia.
Perry attends his masquerade ball, inviting Freddie’s wife Morella along as well. Verna warns Perry to stop the party, but he doesn’t listen. He turns on the sprinklers, which release an acidic byproduct. All the guests are burned and killed in this horrific accident.
Episode 3 – “Murder in the Rue Morgue”
The Usher family’s lawyer Arthur Pym inspects the crime scene, finding Morella still alive among all the dead bodies. Camille is put in charge of Fortunato’s PR after Perry’s death. Her assistants dig into Victorine’s clinical trial.
READ: The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Ending Explained
Victorine finds the perfect human candidate for her trials, who happens to be Verna using a fake identity. Verna also pretends to be one of Tammy’s escorts. And she’s last seen as a security guard at Victorine’s research facility. Camille goes there to uncover Victorine’s secrets but is attacked and killed by an escaped chimpanzee. Verna inhabits the chimp’s body during the attack.
Episode 4 – “The Black Cat”
Arthur shows Roderick and Madeline CCTV footage from the facility where Camille was murdered. They believe it is the same woman that was found at Perry’s rave. Meanwhile, Freddie tries to access Morella’s burner phone but fails.
Leo buys a new cat for his boyfriend to replace the one he killed. Verna sells him the cat. The cat torments and haunts Leo, scratching his eyeball. Leo asks Verna to take the cat back. The cat then attacks its owner again and Leo strangles it. It then taunts him, hiding in the walls. Leo loses the plot, haunted by Verna and the cat. He sees the cat on the balcony and runs at it. Leo falls from the seventh floor to his death.
Episode 5 – “The Tell-Tale Heart”
The remaining siblings start to crack. Freddie brings his wife home from the hospital, against the doctor’s orders. Tammy is haunted by visions of Verna, believing that the woman is having an affair with her husband.
And Victorine argues with her girlfriend Alessandra. The doctor refuses to operate. Victorine is then haunted by strange noises and breaks down. She later realizes that she’s killed Alessandra and then kills herself too.
Flashbacks reveal that CEO William Longfellow was Madeline and Roderick’s father. Auggie reveals that there was no informant, it was just a tactic to make the siblings argue.
Episode 6 – “Goldbug”
Tammy prepares for her brand’s launch party. She has further visions of Verna. Arthur investigates Verna, finding an address that leads back to Roderick’s childhood home. He also finds images of her online dating all the way back to 1901.
Freddie injects Morella with a paralyzing agent. Tammy’s presentation goes terribly. She is haunted by visions of Verna and has a full meltdown on stage. Back at her apartment, Tammy smashes all the mirrors in her home, haunted by Verna once again. Tammy smashes a ceiling mirror, which causes shards of glass to rain down on her, stabbing her to death.
Episode 7 – “The Pit and the Pendulum”
Freddie’s breakdown continues to worsen. He drugs his wife repeatedly and pulls out all of her teeth. Lenore breaks into her mother’s room afterward and calls the police.
Flashbacks reveal how Roderick turned on Auggie. This led to Roderick separating from his wife. Roderick’s second wife Juno wants a divorce in the present.
Madeline meets with Verna, asking to renegotiate their terms. Freddie is drugged by Verna and dies in his own demolition. Madeline urges Roderick to kill himself to end the suffering, but Verna won’t let him go just yet.
Episode 8 – “The Raven”
Flashbacks explore how Roderick took over Fortunato. Roderick and Madeline killed the current CEO Rufus Griswold in a horrific fashion in 1979. They then met with Verna, who offered them a lifetime of wealth and power, in return for one act, the death of the entire bloodline in the distant future. The twins accepted Verna’s deal.
In the present, Verna kills Lenore and offers Arthur a deal of his own. He rejects her offer though. Roderick poisons his sister Madeline and buries her alive. She escapes and strangles Roderick. Their childhood home then collapses, killing the twins. Auggie escapes.
Auggie retires. Juno inherits the empire and makes a foundation in its place. Arthur is arrested and spends the rest of his life in prison. Auggie and Verna say their final goodbyes to the Usher family at their family grave.
That is the full story recap of what happened in the Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 (Episodes 1-8). What are your thoughts on the story? Please comment below.
