‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ Fans Celebrate Verna

Updated 1 year ago, October 16, 2023

Carla Gugino as Verna in 'The Fall of the House of Usher' — Carla Gugino as Verna in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ | EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX

Mike Flanagan’s latest Netflix original horror series, The Fall of the House of Usher draws inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe’s story of the same name — using it as a narrative framework for an eight-installment miniseries wherein each episode adapts a different Poe tale or poem. Roderick and Madeline Usher run Fortunado Pharmaceuticals — a drug company that has profited millions on the back of the opioid epidemic — marketing their Oxy-equivalent as “non-addictive” when it is anything but.

In the story, Carla Gugino portrays Verna (a not-so-subtle allusion to Poe’s “The Raven,” as it is an anagram for the ominous bird). Verna is consequence. She comes to collect. And, one by one, she takes out a different Usher child with a laissez-faire panache. Yet she is not a heartless destroyer. She shifts seamlessly from savage retribution to compassionate mercy; she merely reserves her empathy for those who have earned it. Yet, she takes on several forms in the series — embodying different personas as part of and in service to her punishment-doling behaviors (all of which are justified and understood as the series progresses). Fans have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to praise Carla Gugino’s performance, her character, and her individual storyline in the series.

Carla Gugino is “breathtaking”

https://twitter.com/SoNastyandRude/status/1713048915061219773

#TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher stars one of the greatest horror casts ever assembled in TV or film. Flanagan’s regulars are all amazing again and Mark Hamill is unforgettable here, but even then, Carla Gugino absolutely steals the show with the performance of a lifetime. A masterclass pic.twitter.com/cf32juCdKk

— David Opie (@DavidOpie) October 12, 2023