Lyrics to a Def Leppard song go - "You can run but you can never hide." or those of Pink Floyd went something like - "While the ivy grows over the door.". These inculcate in you a feeling of ticking away of time, of something which has grown old and hence lost its strength to consistent blows and of course, of something which is out to strike you.
There have been very few books that I would ever classify as scary. One of then that could have made it to this genre would have been "The Hound Of Baskerville". That book had true potential to haunt you after you were done with it, but it veered into a totally different territory. The other book I can vouch for is "Fall of the house of Usher". This is an exceptional work that has the potential to really build up terror in a crescendo. The title does full justice to the theme of the story.
I believe there are a few things that can unnerve you. They are - building up of the plot, creating sensational backdrop, delving deeper into the description of atmosphere, schizophrenic characters, and above all an intensely sombre style of story telling. A combination of these can truly build up an arena of irrepressible terror. I would term this story as scoring very high on all these aspects.
The story is set to a queer opening with the narrator reaching the mansion of his old time friend Roderick Usher(and hence the name House of Usher), whom he has not been in touch with, for a substantial amount of time. He is acting at the behest of a letter written to him by Roderick urging him to meet him without delay.
The description of the macabre atmosphere surrounding the house immediately seizes you. The atmosphere seemingly reeked up from decay of the trees around and the crumbling walls of the mansion. The walls that seem to be giving way to some seemingly unyielding weight that has damaged them permanently and caused a wide fissure running from the very top to the depths of the basement. You realize later how aptly narrator uses these in the latter part of the story and not just as means to build the momentum.
An equally captivating portrayal of the Gothic innards of the mansion follow when the narrator reaches inside. He meets the family physician on the way and immediately realizes that there is something apocalyptic about the whole place. His sojourn seems to be laced with intrigue and gloom. There are signs of impending doom but he is unable to fathom any of those. His meeting with his friend Roderick Usher provides a very powerful insight into the state of his friend’s mind(or rather statelessness of his friend’s mind). His friend seems to be taken in by some mysterious force and is bordering on hysteria. He also meets someone else there in the mansion and it is this character’s introduction that gives great fillip to the fear quotient of the story.
The author is quick to note that the atmosphere of, and around the mansion is such that can scare the bravest. The story unfolds into one of those intense sentiment of terror that can overpower you while you read through the pages. The true drama unfolds which I would let you read for yourself. Moments after moment pass and with passage of each of them the story continues to scale higher on the notes of decay, death, scare and evil. You may not know but there are powers of diavolo at play; there are shadows creeping up beside you!
The story intricately revolves around the author and his narrative. The paragraphs which transform him from his stable state to the one where fear overcomes him are one of the many high points of the story. You can actually feel the heat yourself! It is Poe’s genius to transform the language during this phase that simply stands out. One more aspect that Poe uses well is that he does not bother to give justifications to everything. That leaves you more in the dark.
The night is sternly beautiful but evil; and yet holds answers to all your questions. Does it really? There are dark clouds hovering over the mansion - so low that they are pressing hard to permanently damage the building. Doesn’t the thick dark vapor in air portend a pandemonium? Will you not escape the impending doom? Will you be able to survive a psychoneurotic disorder? You try to sleep, sleep won’t come. As anyone else would, wouldn’t you also take up some activity to divert your mind? How about wild strumming on the guitar? Or reading a book to your friend? The crack in the mansion I spoke about earlier, doesn’t that reflect your state of mind?
This is impetuous fury of terror, decay and evil.
The stage is set for a very powerful tempest in the making. There are strange sounds emanating from the bowels of the earth. Can’t you hear them reaching you through the pauses of the outrageous storm?