4,5 really appealed to me these mysteries.

They seemed to hold an allure that was impossible to resist.

The idea of uncovering something hidden and unknown was both exciting and thrilling.

I found myself constantly thinking about these mysteries, wondering what secrets they held.

It was as if they were calling out to me, challenging me to solve them.

I was determined to not let these mysteries remain unsolved.

I would do whatever it took to uncover the truth and揭开这些神秘的面纱.

Whether it meant spending countless hours researching or delving deep into my own thoughts and instincts, I was ready for the challenge.

These mysteries had become a part of me, and I was eager to see where this journey would lead.

For my Halloween read this year, I made a choice that I knew would not disappoint. I selected an author whom I have always trusted to deliver an outstanding read, not just in the horror genre but in general. And this particular book truly met and exceeded my hopes and expectations.

For those who recall the plot of Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Fall of the House of Usher" (and if it has been some time, I highly suggest you at least review a plot synopsis), Roderick Usher suffers from a condition that combines hypochondria and acute anxiety, which is triggered by sensory overload. He also believes that the house he inhabits is alive, and that this sentience stems from the arrangement of the masonry and vegetation surrounding it.

These themes are explored in all their fascinating and terrifying glory in this “sequel” novel. Rix Usher, a descendant of the Usher clan, has reluctantly returned to Usherland, a vast compound befitting the family behind the enormously wealthy and powerful Usher Armaments Company. Alongside his brother and sister, they await the impending passing of the current patriarch, Walen Usher. While the brother and sister vie for selection as the heir to the company leadership, Rix, a former best-selling horror author, is striving to recapture that creative magic and wishes to turn his attention towards writing a family history.

I truly relished how the author showcases Rix's uncovering of his family's history. As Rix delves into old letters, journals, newspaper clippings, and more from the secretive family archives, we are able to experience those scenes and learn about all five previous generations, all the way back to Roderick. While numerous juicy details and intrigues are unearthed, it all transforms into a complex puzzle as we continue to discover more pieces throughout the book. Accompanying all of this is a diverse cast of supporting characters, many of whom are... a little strange.

The horror elements throughout the first three-fourths of the book are largely confined to odd occurrences such as the disappearance of some children, rumors of “The Pumpkin Man” and his giant black panther pet in the woods, references to the King of the Mountain, and so on. Additionally, we get to witness the real-life horror that can unfold when greedy siblings compete for vast wealth. McCammon skillfully builds the suspense and the horror until it erupts in a truly spine-chilling manner. The horror combines aspects of traditional haunted house scares, witchcraft-style magic, and bestial attacks. He weaves in the historical themes from Poe’s original story along with the historical puzzle pieces we have learned through Rix’s research. It is, indeed, a complex construction, but McCammon manages to pull it off, just as I had hoped.

This is a great choice for reading late at night and into the early hours of an October morning. However, I recommend keeping the lights on.

This would be my fourth Robert McCammon book, and it is truly a remarkable addition to my collection. It is also the third one of his that I would place quite high on my favorites list.

I found this exploration into the family of the Ushers to be thoroughly engaging. There is an abundance of intrigue and mystery that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from start to finish. The cast of characters is well-developed and diverse, each with their own unique personalities and motives.

The story is masterfully crafted, with a rich and interesting history that adds depth and complexity to the narrative. It weaves together elements of horror and dark fantasy in a seamless and captivating way.

I would highly recommend this book to fans of horror or dark fantasy. It is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-written and suspenseful story. In my opinion, it easily earns a rating of at least 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is widely regarded as one of Poe's most quintessentially Gothic stories. It is a tale of hereditary doom that can be initially challenging for the reader to engage with, yet it has the power to haunt the imagination long after. McCammon takes a bold step in creating a story so clearly inspired by Poe's classic, but he manages to craft a contemporary Gothic tale with potent horror elements.

The novel commences with a powerful opening chapter, presenting a captivatingly sinister image of one of the Usher clan as he confronts Edgar Allan Poe about his writing of a story involving the family. Poe insists that he believed it was纯粹虚构, perhaps having heard about them second-hand and unconsciously incorporating the family into a story he thought he had dreamt up.

This sets the tone effectively, making it evident that while connected to Poe's story, McCammon aims to make "Usher's Passing" his own and update the old Gothic theme of the doomed family line. From there, the events leap forward to the present day. Rix Usher is summoned back to the family home near Asheville, North Carolina, by his father, Walen, who is dying from a hereditary terminal illness that heightens the senses of its victims. The Usher family has thrived in the years since their encounter with Mr. Poe, amassing incredible wealth through the manufacturing of weapons. They now own a large estate in the North Carolina mountains, dominated by a large, albeit unused, mansion they call The Lodge. The estate has its own Gothic reputation, with locals telling tales about The Pumpkin Man, who abducts children, and his monstrous feline companion, Greediguts.

At home, Rix has to deal with his mother Margaret, who refuses to accept her husband's impending death; his arrogant brother Boone and his fading Southern Belle wife; and his sister Katt, whose glamorous lifestyle hides dark secrets. Rix's latest novel has been rejected by his publisher, and his return prompts thoughts of writing the Usher family history. As he delves into the old documents in the library, he begins to uncover the family's secrets and mysteries.

McCammon's handling of the story's connection to its inspiration is masterful. Poe's influence is palpable, from the minor story details to the climax of the book, yet it is done with a light enough touch that it doesn't feel overwhelmed by allusion. McCammon captures the traditional Gothic atmosphere of the doomed family and their imposing ancestral home, whose ominous presence reflects the family's own history. He gives these elements a contemporary and Southern twist, endowing the Usher family with a Faulknerian quality of a family whose wealth is built on the blood of others but who have gained a certain degree of respectability due to their wealth and perseverance. As the events of the novel unfold, the full extent of the Usher family's crimes becomes clear, and the judgment that descends upon their house in the climax is worthy of Poe's original tale.

It took me an eternity to complete this.

I truly liked the overall setup, with its southern gothic vibes and the highly expressive prose.

However, about halfway through the story, it became bogged down for me. There were so many winding vines that seemed to lead nowhere, and as a result, I simply stopped caring.

I would rate it three stars for the some genuine scares it managed to provide and the overall good writing.

But I just wish it had been leaner and more concise.

I skimmed through the last 150 pages with a bit of guilt, but at least it's finally done.

Now that it's over, I can reflect on the aspects that worked well and those that didn't quite hit the mark.

Perhaps with a bit of pruning and streamlining, this could have been an even more engaging and satisfying read.

Nevertheless, it did have its moments of horror and good writing, which is something to be appreciated.

Overall, it was an okay experience, but not one that will stick with me for a long time.

This was quite a ride indeed.

I'm not entirely certain how McCammon managed to conjure up all of this from reading Poe's story. However, I must give him an enormous amount of credit for his vivid imagination. He truly crafted a remarkable story here.

The twists and turns just kept on coming without any letup, and that ending was completely unpredictable. Well, to be fair, part of it could be attributed to the original Poe story, but the major revelations were not. There were a few aspects that piqued my curiosity. For instance, I was eager to know the origins of the "good" magic, and perhaps a bit more backstory on the panther-monster would have been interesting. But all in all, this was a great read.

McCammon did an outstanding job of fleshing out the Usher family history. At times, it felt so real that it could have been non-fiction, and this truly added a wonderful element to the story.

I'm new to McCammon's work, but I will definitely be exploring more of it in the future.

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This book truly has it all. There's horror that'll send shivers down your spine, adventure that'll keep you on the edge of your seat, a mystery that'll make you rack your brain, and a family dynamic so intense that it would make the TV show "The Succession" blush. It could have easily devolved into a tiresome read, but Robert McCammon's masterful touch ensures that it never feels like too much.

Robert McCammon might just be horror's best-kept secret. He has an impressive list of accolades, having won the Bram Stoker award three times, received The World Horror Convention Grand Master Award in 2008, and won the World Fantasy Award once. Yet, he's rarely discussed in horror circles. He's best known for his post-apocalyptic novel Swan Song, which has been compared to Stephen King's The Stand, and in my opinion, it's superior in many aspects.

In Usher's Passing, we continue the story of the Usher Family from Poe's famous tale The Fall of the House of Usher. This book follows the descendants of Hudson Usher, the brother of Roderick Usher made famous in Poe's story. They moved to America and built a grand estate outside of Asheville, North Carolina, where they became a weapons manufacturing empire.

The main part of the story begins when the family is called together due to the imminent passing of the current patriarch, Whalen Usher. There are three siblings in the current generation: Rix, a semi-successful horror author; Boone, a dilatory horse breeder and talent agent; and Kattrina, an international model with a past drug problem. Rix is considered the black sheep of the family as he didn't get along with his father or brother and left the estate to live in Atlanta.

This is a family in decline. All the Usher-born suffer from a disability that heightens their senses to painful levels, and they all have emergency rooms to visit when they have an attack. Interestingly, none of the current generation had children, so this could potentially be the last generation of Ushers.

The tension in this novel is palpable. In less capable hands, the numerous subplots could have left the reader feeling overwhelmed. Add to that the jumping back and forth in time, and it could have become a jumbled mess. But Mr. McCammon handles the various plots with such skill that everything flows naturally.

I've been extremely impressed with the books I've read by this author, and Usher's Passing is no exception. It truly deserves all the stars.

Robert McCammon, where have you been all my life!

I know, forgive me, I just discovered how incredibly amazing Robert McCammon is as a writer! He is truly astounding. His style is straightforward, pulling you in and making you want more.

Even though "Usher's Passing" is the first and only book of his that I've ever read in my life, I'm now a new fan and will be seeking out more of his books in the future! I love the cover art of the paperbacks with their original late 1970s/1980s vibe. I'm a total sucker for that.

"Usher's Passing" is basically about the family that Mr. Edgar Poe wrote about in 1839, brought up to the 1980s. You have a very dysfunctional family with a closet full of skeletons and the curses they live with because of this. The main character is Rix Usher, a horror writer trying to find that one thing that will make him great again. When he's called back to Overland because the head of the family, his father, is dying, all those family secrets and monsters come back once more. But how will it affect Rix and the rest of his family? And what is the ultimate secret of the Ushers?

This book had me hooked from the very first page. It's a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Every time I finished a chapter, I was left wondering what was going to happen next. "Usher's Passing" is an excellent read and will definitely be in my top reads for 2016!

This is an extremely scary book. It is a spine-tingling, read-in-the-dark kind of book. Do you dare to read it? Go ahead, I dare you. But be prepared to be left with such vivid imagery that you will never forget. It will truly haunt you.

McCammon has delivered the scariest book I have ever read. I have chills running down my spine. Inspired by Poe's House of Usher, McCammon definitely awakens his inner-Poe for this tale of the Usher family and all the spooky happenings.

It is a mark of a great writer when they can make you feel what the characters are going through. The Usher family's maladies lead to some form of panic attacks, and I swear I was having one right along with Rix, our main character.

Run, run as fast as you can, ’cause out in the woods walks the Pumpkin Man.

What really makes this book special is the writing. McCammon pieces together such impactful sentences that you can't help but feel every creepy twist and turn.

It was always deep January inside the Lodge, a world of icy, remote magnificence.

Also, kudos to McCammon for the best use of flashbacks and dreams I have seen in any book. The way he uses items he finds in the library to take you back in time is amazing. A lesser author could simply have the characters describe it, but McCammon takes you back to that time and lets you feel everything. And props to him for 'getting me' hook, line, and sinker with that dream sequence near the end. I completely fell for it! (Those who have read it will understand.)

I highly implore you to read this book.

—come home—

I'm truly and extremely disappointed with this novel. What exacerbates the situation is that I'm generally a huge fan of McCammon's writing.

This is one of his earlier works, and there's a significant amount of nonsensical elements in the writing that are absent from his later books. The most irritating issue is the无休止的 repetition. Goddamn it, I understood the point the first six times it was being emphasized. Christalmighty, the repetition is just unbearable.

The story itself holds great promise and is filled with creepy horror goodness. It's about the Usher family (yes, the very same Usher family from Edgar Allen Poe's short story). We start in Poe's era, but the vast majority of the book takes place in modern times. The current members of the Usher lineage include the patriarch Walen, his wife, and their three children. Everyone is gathered on the massive family estate, Usherland, because Walen is on his deathbed.

There's a lot more happening that I won't delve into. McCammon has the ability to tell a great story, and this one is rich in Gothic horror awesomeness. However, the repetition, the often forced dialogue, and the sometimes absurd scenarios make this far from a great book. It was the animal torture/brutality that finally pushed me over the edge, and I only had 100 pages left to read.

I despise not finishing books, but I'm not ashamed to discard something that isn't worth the effort or annoys me. Life is too short to waste on mediocre or bad books. Usher's Passing frustrated me because I've read a significant amount of McCammon's work, and I know he is capable of so much better than this. Instead, I'm going to read his book Stinger.

I read this book every October without fail, and it truly gets better with each passing year. With each read, I discover new and fascinating details that add depth and richness to the story. It's as if the author, Robert McCammon, is like Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen of storytelling, expertly sprinkling in these little gems that enhance the overall flavor of the narrative. However, unlike Gordon Ramsay, McCammon is less prone to screaming and more focused on the art of weaving a captivating tale. His writing is a masterclass in how to engage readers and keep them on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. Whether it's a clever turn of phrase, a hidden clue, or a nuanced character trait, these little details make all the difference and keep me coming back for more.