Usher's Passing (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Robert McCammon (Author) "AS RIX WALKED OFF THE DELTA JET AND INTO THE AIRPORT TERminal seven miles south of Ashville, he saw Edwin Bodane's head above the group..." (more)
Key Phrases: Mountain King, Briartop Mountain, Quiet Room (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this most gothic of Robert McCammon's novels, setting is key: the continuing saga of the Usher family (descended from the brother of Roderick and Madeline of Edgar Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher") takes place in the weird and picturesque heart of the North Carolina mountains. The haughty, aristocratic Ushers live in a mansion near Asheville; the poor but crafty mountain folk (whose families are just as ancient) live on Briartop Mountain nearby. At harvest time, when the book's action unfolds, the mountains are a blaze of color. Add to the mixture a sinister history of mountain kids disappearing every year, a journalist investigating those disappearances, a monster called "The Pumpkin Man," moldy books and paintings in a huge old library at the Usher estate, and a secret chamber with a strange device involving a brass pendulum and tuning forks--and you've got a splendid recipe for atmospheric horror.

Review

"A master who keeps his audience spellbound with every sentence."

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (October 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671769928
• ISBN-13: 978-0671769925
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #495,060 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a book for children. . ., February 27, 2002

By	"maggie_d" (Ottawa, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews

I read Usher's Passing a number of years ago, when I was in my early teens. At the time I found the book to be terrifying and even now, in my early 20's I am haunted by the image of the Pumpkin Man peering down from the dark at that little boy. I decided to read it again, just because it had never left my mind; I needed to find out if it was really as frightening as I remembered. It is. I have also read Swan Song and Boy's Life, and can easily say that R. McCammon is my favorite author and that Usher's Passing is the scariest book I have ever read.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gothic, Disturbing, Brilliant, October 15, 1999

By	Matthew D. Hydeman "voyage" (Tucson, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

McCammon takes on Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" and spins a new story from where it all left off. Images of Usher history leading towards the present and intermingled with present-day suspense add a disturbingly quiet element to things. Missing children, a legacy of destruction, a house beyond understanding -- Rix Usher's life, his destiny, all of it, is tied in with the dark secrets of his family. Another reviewer said it was not the kind of book to read again and again; wait a few years, but I disagree. This is the kind of book that demands reading again and again, for there's something new to find with every read. It's not a lightweight read -- you MUST think about it, process it. It is by far the most frightening book I've ever read in terms of its implications for the characters -- and ourselves.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of McCammon's best!, May 3, 2002

By	someone "tmk57" (earth) - See all my reviews

A chilling story with a great plot.I think that the pumpkin man was pretty cool.I really like this book and would recomend any fans of mccammon's to read it.Definetly the scariest book by mccammon i've ever read.(I've read Boy's Life,Gone South,Usher's Passing,and Mine.)You should read this book unless you are scared of horror stories.An over-all great book!