In the following essay, Bailey raises several theories about "The Fall of the House of Usher," one of which is that it is a vampire story, citing as evidence the strange behavior of Madeline and Roderick and how their actions fit the conventions of other vampire tales.

What happens in "The Fall of the House of Usher"? This story contains many suggestions of psychic and supernatural influences upon the feelings of the narrator and the nerves of Roderick Usher. But the influences are not defined. No ghosts appear. Surely, Poe as craftsman intended the story to do what it does, to arouse a sense of unearthly terror that springs from a vague source, hinted and mysterious. Poe stated that his aim in tales of terror was to create "terror... not of Germany but of the soul," or not of the charnel but of the mind. He wrote...