THE IDEA OF THE BAD PLACE IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S “THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER” AND IN STEPHEN KING’S “THE SHINING”

Abstract

The article deals with the idea of the bad place as a characteristic feature of the horror genre. Its aim is to explore the function of two buildings that epitomize this idea in two literary works from different periods of American literature: the Usher mansion from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) and the Overlook Hotel from Stephen King’s The Shining (1977). The two architectural structures reveal various undercurrent meanings that lead to the conclusion that the haunted place in the gothic genre may serve purposes rather different than creating horrific atmosphere and triggering emotions like fear and suspense. By binding their characters to a specific building the two authors not only trap them and put them in isolation, but they also reveal certain psychological states or criticize the society. In Poe’s short story the crumbling mansion is obviously a reflection of the unstable mind of the narrator as the author employs his usual method of using architecture to speak about psychology. In The Shining the hotel unleashes evil powers because of its sinful history. Thus a critical look at the society is provided. In both cases the architectural structures are destroyed in the end. However, although the two buildings can be taken as symbols of evil, their identical fates may be interpreted differently in each context.