Duane Spurlock wrote:
Where does "Fall of the House of Usher" take place?
Someone to perhaps add to your contemporary Southern Gothic
list is Barry Hannah -- his stories are usually filled with
southern eccentrics and remarkable violence and fierce
emotions. For example, take a look at his most recent novel,
YONDER STANDS YOUR ORPHAN.
Walker Percy is another. LOVE IN THE RUINS is a sort-of
post-apolcalyptic southern gothic. And in some ways, his
first novel, THE MOVIEGOER, could be discussed on this list
for its hard-boiled elements.
******* Thanks, Duane. I wrote down your suggestions along
with Bill's on Cable and Ed's on McCullers and Capote.
I don't believe that "Fall of the House of Usher" pinpoints a
location. To me it has a feel of northeastern USA, but
somewhere it mentions the Usher mansion is very old, so maybe
that predates the USA. As Gothic drifting towards noir, I
can't think of a better example. The story is delightfully
morbid and morose:
"...an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of
heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and
the gray wall, and the silent tarn - a pestilent and mystic
vapour, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible, and
leaden-hued."
Nature in Gothic is often spoken of in terms of mold and
decay.
miker
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