The Fall of the House of Usher (Dramatized)

By: Edgar Allan Poe, Les Crutchfield

Narrated by: Bill Mills, Ross Chamberlain

Not a mere reading, you will hear wraiths howl, the dead walk, and the massive old House of Usher fall in this unique new audio dramatization. This presentation is based on a classic radio script written by veteran scripter Les Crutchfield (who some sources consider a pseudonym for the then blacklisted screen writer Dalton Trumbo) and originally presented on the popular radio series Escape on the night of October 22, 1947.

"The Fall of the House of Usher", a story told by the "last living friend of that unhappy man" Roderick Usher, has become a signature piece to be found in any truly comprehensive collection of Poe's classics of the uncanny and the bizarre.

©2006 Renaissance eBooks Inc. (P)2006 Renaissance eBooks Inc.

a great dramatization!

This is truly a great adaptation of one of Poe's most notable stories! Easier to pay attention to than most readings.

Awful audio recording!

This audio book starts with an introduction to who Edgar Allen Poe was, and a basic background of his life. It also offers a quick history of the particular audio dramatization you are about to hear. The narrator was annoying as all get out. He has the style and cadence of William Shatner. It also alternate between adding odd voice reverb and echo effects to the initial narration to bounce back and forth between segments of the background intro. I found it to be like nails on the chalkboard.

Also this whole introductory nonsense isn't segmented out into it's own chapter marker, so I couldn't just skip past it and immediately find the start of the audio dramatization.

The actual audio play was about the same. The narrator reminds me in voice and tone of Watson Pritchard from "House on Haunted Hill" - that 60's horror movie with Vincent Price. They also continued to use those audio effects. It was pretty campy. Not a good classic radio drama that stands the test of time like, say, a War of the Worlds, or even a good old Green Hornet episode. It was seriously cheesy.

Save your money. Don't buy this unless you've got a thing for 1940s camp.