The Fall of the House of Usher (gloomy skies)

“I scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building. Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The discoloration of ages had been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves.../ rotted for long years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breath of the external air. Beyond this indication of extensive decay, however, the fabric gave little token of instability. Perhaps the eye of a scrutinising observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn”-the fall of the house of usher

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This quote is a description of what the narrator saw on his way to the house of Usher. In this quote he is describing how the house looked like as he was approaching it, how the atmosphere of the place felt and the setting that the house is located in. This quote most evidently is meant to help develop the gothic genre. The narrator talks about this old rotting stone castle like possibly haunted mansion. It is Isolated in the middle of the woods in the midst of rotting trees, rugged and zigzag terrain. He describes the air as being musky and wreaked with the stench of rotting wood and the house as dark, mysterious and remote. This quote also helps establish the mood/atmosphere early on in the story, which is really made the story feel more realistic. The quote describes the atmosphere as dark, mysterious, and isolated with an eerie feel to the whole place that puts ones senses on edge.