House of Usher

An unnamed protagonist (the Narrator) is summoned to the remote mansion of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, who is suffering from an unnamed illness. Usher is hoping that seeing his childhood friend will provide him with some relief.

A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country—a letter from him—which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a personal reply. The MS. gave evidence of nervous agitation. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness—of a mental disorder which oppressed him—and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady.