1. Is “The Fall of the House of Usher” a sincere expression of horror, or is Poe simply mocking himself and the reader? To what extent can we read his tale as a parody?

Usher is typical of Poe's stories. At times they are ridiculous but I suppose this is why we like them so much. Usher is supposed to be creepy, scary and strange. Calling this a parody would take away from Poe's intentions. I think we can question Madeline’s existence at all, but the story is still pretty creepy!