The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Why Pamela Clemm's Name Means More Than You Think

Contains spoilers for "The Fall of the House of Usher," Episode 6 — "Goldbug"

Netflix's serialized adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" is eight episodes crammed with as many references to the late writer's life and literature as possible. Some of the nods are more obvious, like how the project is practically drowning in raven imagery, but there are smaller catches, too. In Season 1, Episode 6, "Goldbug," viewers are treated to a brief glance at a driver's license belonging to one of the many aliases of Verna (Carla Gugino). The address on that license becomes an important narrative point later, but it's the name just above it that sparks our interest in the present because it reads: "Pamela Clemm."

For those who didn't permanently internalize their high school English classes, Clemm is the maiden name of Poe's wife, Virginia. The pair, who were first cousins, married when Clemm was only 13 and Poe was 27. In 1847, at the age of 24, and after a five-year battle with tuberculosis, Clemm passed away. It is believed that her passing deeply affected Poe's last works, such as "Annabel Lee" (which also scores a sizeable reference in the Netflix series) and "The Raven," all of which included themes of cherished women dying before their time. Poe himself would pass away two years later in 1849, although the exact cause of his death is less clear.

The connection between Edgar Allan Poe and the maiden name Clemm is obvious, given his relationship with Virginia Eliza Clemm, but there isn't quite as clear of a correlation between him and the first name Pamela. Everything we're about to suggest feels comically ancillary ... but we're nothing if not fastidious. 

In 2006, a biography titled "Edgar Allan Poe" by author Pamela Loos was published. It's possible that Mike Flanagan read her book while preparing to create "The Fall of the House of Usher" for Netflix and decided to honor her work by using her name. Honestly, this isn't even that much of a stretch ... but our next contender is, and it's just too funny not to mention.

In 1975, "Snoopy! The Musical," a sequel to the stage musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," first performed in San Francisco. In Act 1, there's a number called "Edgar Allan Poe," in which the cast complains about how difficult it is to memorize information about historical figures for school. The number is led by Peppermint Patty, and the first actress to portray her was Pamela Myers. Since both Peppermint Patty and Verna's alias Pamela Clemm have a tendency to overtalk when they're nervous, there's even something of a character correlation. But in all likelihood, Flanagan possibly grabbed a random name to better disguise the reference to Poe's child bride, something that Netflix's other recent Poe-themed series, "In the Pale Blue Eye," wholly bypasses by aging the writer down.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is now streaming on Netflix.