Fall Of The House Of Usher: Who Plays Annabel Lee & Why Is Her Name Important?
Contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 8 of "The Fall of the House of Usher"
It seems as though no one can do horror mash-ups in quite the way that Mike Flanagan can. Having previously taken on stories from horror writers like Henry James, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, and Christopher Pike, the acclaimed writer-director can now add Edgar Allan Poe to his oeuvre with "The Fall of the House of Usher."
The Netflix series draws very liberally from the works of arguably the most famed horror scribe of all time, and, as such, nearly every character is named in reference to a Poe story or poem. One that even casual fans of the macabre writer will be likely to catch is that of Annabel Lee in "The Fall of the House of Usher."
Appearing almost exclusively in the flashback story of "The Fall of the House of Usher," Annabel Lee Usher (Katie Parker) is married to a young Roderick Usher (Zach Gilford) and rallies to support Auguste Dupin (Malcolm Goodwin) as Roderick and his sister Madeline (Willa Fitzgerald) inevitably betray the investigator. However, if the actor herself looks familiar to you, it might be because you recognize her from other Flanagan projects.
Katie Parker has appeared in 5 previous Flanagan works
If you've watched Mike Flanagan's haunted house tales "The Haunting of Hill House" and "The Haunting of Bly Manor," Katie Parker will no doubt have a familiarity about her. She played Poppy Hill, the murderous flapper ghost who manipulates Olivia Crain (Carla Gugino) in the former and the faceless ghost, Perdita Willoughby, in the latter.
She also appeared in "Doctor Sleep" as Silent Sarey, one of the psychic vampires who works with Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) to consume gifted children in order to extend their lives. Finally, Parker played cult leader Aseco in "The Midnight Club" and a phone store clerk in an earlier Flanagan film, "Oculus."
As for the particular significance of her name with regard to Edgar Allan Poe, "Annabel Lee" is the final poem that Poe wrote and is thought to have been inspired by one of the beloved women in his life, some of whom died. Like "The Raven," it is mournful in its unending grief and leaves the reader with a haunted feeling despite featuring no ghosts of its own.
When it comes to the character herself, however, it turns out at the end of "The Fall of the House of Usher" that she is not dead at all but had simply left Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) many years earlier. Still, in the show, just as in the poem, it seems that Roderick's love for her will never die, at least not until he himself finally perishes.