Now that we're well and truly into spooky season, it's time to find ourselves a new horror obsession to binge and it seems as though Netflix's latest release is the perfect match for what we're looking for.
The Fall of the House of Usher is an eight-episode series that just dropped last week and tells the story of two "ruthless" siblings who build a family dynasty that begins to crumble when their heirs mysteriously die.
There are some big names and some familiar faces in the cast lineup, including Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel Bruce Greenwood, Rahul Kohli, Mary McDonnell, and of course, we can't forget about the iconic director, Mike Flanagan.
If that name rings a bell for you, you might remember Flanagan also directed another popular horror/thriller series that debuted on the streaming platform back in 2018 and was renewed for a second season due to its incredible popularity - The Haunting of Hill House and it's follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor - both of which earned themselves respectable reviews from fans and critics alike.
And The Fall of the House of Usher seems to be following suit with an impressive 89% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ever since it dropped on October 12, people seem to be hooked, and for good reason too. The storyline, the visuals, and the acting combined have seemingly created the perfect concoction for a successful show.
But there's one particular scene that people just can't stop talking about.
The scene in question is part of the episode titled 'The Black Cat,' which dives into the mysterious death of Leo Usher, and contains an intense mutilation scene which has caused a stir amongst some viewers.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one user wrote: "If u have a severe reaction to cat abvse/cat d3ath/lots of g0ry imagery of cats dont watch House of Usher btw."
"One content warning that is NOT sufficiently marked for in House of Usher is animal abuse and mutilation. Cats and chimpanzees. I enjoy some psychological horror, but between this and Midnight Mass, what is Mike Flanagan's vendetta against cats?", another added.
A third also stated: "This is the only thing I’ll say about the Fall of the House of Usher so far, but what does Mike Flanagan have against cats. My guy, stop it."
After seeing the comments, Flanagan has now responded to the uproar.
"Okay. So... 'The Black Cat' was written by Edgar Allan Poe. In HIS version, a cat is killed," he wrote on X before going on to state: "In MY version, the cat is... (Spoilers) .. in MY version, the killing of the cat is revealed to be a hallucination."
He added: "In MY version, the cat is alive and well. So who hates cats?"
So there you have it, folks. He doesn't actually hate cats. Beyond that, please note that the series is not for the faint-hearted and should be watched only if you can handle some gory visuals.
The Fall of the House of Usher is available to watch on Netflix now.
