Mike Flanagan's The The Erotic Witch Project 4: Lust in SpaceFall of the House of Usherhas so many references to the story's author, Edgar Allan Poe, you'd be hard pressed to miss the more overt ones. Some are character names, others are narrative parallels, some are embedded in prop design. But there are some references so tiny, so subtle, we can't help but raise a glass of Amontillado to how well they're buried.
There's one reference you'll find hidden within the dialogue, and it's all to do with Toby (Igby Rigney), the long-suffering assistant of morally nihilistic PR mogul Camille L'Espanaye (Kate Siegel).
SEE ALSO: 'The Fall of the House of Usher' review: 'Succession' meets Edgar Allan Poe in brilliant horror series"Damn it, Toby! Toby, dammit!" Camille scorns her assistant in episode 2. The line is repeated several times during the series by the Usher family's monarch of spin, perpetually and vocally unimpressed with the precocious Toby, who is struggling to complete her impossible requests.
Camille's not glitching or simply uninventive when it comes to lambasting her (very) personal staff member. Toby's full name in the series isactually Toby Dammit, named for a character from Poe's 1841 story "Never Bet the Devil Your Head." A title with sage advice, we love it.
Toby Dammit is the narrator's friend in the story, a perpetually ambitious man, full of false bravado and a love for dares, who likes to make hypothetical bets with the Devil — everyone knows one. As the story's title suggests, Toby bets something pretty valuable, and things don't end well. He bets the Devil he can leapfrog a bridge turnstile:
He insisted upon leaping the stile, and said he could cut a pigeon-wing over it in the air. Now this, conscientiously speaking, I did not think he could do. The best pigeon-winger over all kinds of style, was my friend Mr. Carlyle, and as I knew he could not do it, I would not believe that it could be done by Toby Dammit. I therefore told him, in so many words, that he was a braggadocio, and could not do what he said. For this, I had reason to be sorry afterwards; — for he straightway offered to bet the Devil his head that he could.
And reader, the whole thing leaves him without... Yeah, a head. You saw it coming.
The truth is, he had been deprived of his head, which after a close search I could not find anywhere...
But Dammit doesn't die immediately in the story, and his mate sends for... the homœopathists. When Toby eventually does die (shocker), the narrator gets all shitty about having to pay for the funeral himself.
The scoundrels refused to pay it, so I had Mr. Dammit dug up at once, and sold him for dog's meat.
Luckily, Toby's character in The Fall of the House of Usherkeeps his head. He isn't sold for meat, either — perhaps he's named for his naïveté?
This isn't the first time that this particular short story has inspired a filmmaker. Fellini himself directed a segment called "Toby Dammit" for the old-school anthology Spirits of the Dead,with Terence Stamp as a debauched Shakespearean actor being chased around Rome by the Devil disguised as a creepy little girl. It's currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.
How to watch:The Fall of the House of Usheris now streaming on Netflix.
Topics Netflix Streaming The Fall of the House of Usher
Previous：Go Tell it in the Mountain State
Trumpspeak
NFL Sunday Ticket deal: Save $50 with code
LG monitor deal: $100 at Amazon
Best Kindle deals: Stuff Your Kindle day brings thousands of titles down to the great price of free
Gun Anarchy and the Unfree State
Best Kindle deals: Amazon's Stuff Your Kindle Day has romantic suspense novels for free
Best free online courses from Harvard University
LG monitor deal: $100 at Amazon
The Book of No Despair
Bing amps up deepfake porn detection to stop the spread
A Brief, Cheesy Interlude
Best Buy members get 20% off Dyson hair styling tools
How to watch NFL games without cable: The best streaming deals for football
Stephen King posts his 'The Life of Chuck' review on X
Out of Sight, Out of Our Minds
Megan thee Stallion and Travis Kelce revives iconic 'We Will Rock You' Pepsi ad
What does 'Sûza
Los Angeles Sparks vs. Chicago Sky 2024 livestream: Watch live WNBA
Weekly Bafflements
Motorola extended Labor Day sale 2024: Get up to 25% off
What the Review’s Staff Is Doing This Week: August 21–27 by The Paris ReviewThe Cups Came in a Rush: An Interview with Margot Bergman by Na KimMaking of a Poem: Leopoldine Core on “ExKim Kardashian Landline Dreamscape by Sarah MillerLooking for Virginia Woolf's Diaries by Geoff DyerSomething Good by Roger ReevesGame 6 by Rachel B. GlaserJames Lasdun, Jessica Laser, and Leopoldine Core Recommend by The Paris ReviewAmericans Abroad by Andrew MartinAlejo Carpentier’s Second Language by Alejandro ZambraFucked for Life: Bladee’s Paintings by Elena Saavedra BuckleyMichael Bazzett, Dobby Gibson, and Sophie Haigney Recommend by The Paris ReviewNancy Lemann Recommends The Palace Papers and Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises by Nancy LemannThe Final Dead Shows: Part One by Sophie HaigneyA Coiled Spring by Mary GaitskillRear Window, Los Feliz by Claudia RossApparently Personal: On Sharon Olds by Gunnhild ØyehaugA Coiled Spring by Mary GaitskillShadow Canons: Danzy Senna and Andrew Martin Recommend by The Paris ReviewThe Final Dead Shows: Part One by Sophie Haigney Chrissy Teigen has no time for trolls who question her fertility plan This country wants to pay people to use the loo Magical fish basically has the power to conjure its own Patronus A woman reached into her bag of bananas and got a gross surprise Budweiser accidentally made a moving political statement with its Super Bowl ad Mum and sons fight anti Crowdfunded LGBTQ film from India is hoping for a Cannes premiere Showtime's new documentary will explore Jihadism inside the United States What the tech industry would look like without immigrants Twitter tweaks video again, adding view counts for some users LeBron James unleashes sick burns on 'hater' Charles Barkley 'Conan Exiles' lets you adjust the size of your physical... assets This terrifying sea creature could be one of our earliest ancestors We translated Britain's best anti This vintage Is it legal for authorities to check your social media at the U.S. border? Veteran speaks out against 'Muslim ban' with incredible Iraq story National Hydration Day deals: Take up to 35% off from Stanley, Owala, Lifestraw and more Uber announced a big deal — and it could mean driverless Mercedes at your door This guy could be Cara Delevingne's dad
1.6555s , 10130.8515625 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【The Erotic Witch Project 4: Lust in Space】,Warmth Information Network