. Funeral homes were rare, as families prepared and buried their loved ones themselves. The Fall of the House of Usher begins on one "...dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year...." From the very beginning, the reader, as a result of Poe's imagery, is aware of a sense of death and decay. Even the narrator, Roderick's childhood companion, describes "a sense of insufferable gloom which pervaded his spirit" as he approached the House of Usher. The very sight of the manor caused within him "an illness, a sickening of the heart, an unredeemed dreariness." But even though the "eye-like" windows of the mansion seemed to be staring at him, he managed to swallow his fear and continue in his carriage up the path to the door. The term "House of Usher" refers not only to the crumbling mansion but also to the remaining family members who live within. Roderick and Madeline Usher are the sole, remaining members of the long, time-honored Usher race. Usher himself looked equally shut-in, almost terrifying. Pallid skin like that of a corpse, lustrous eyes, and long hair that seemed t
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