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Dickson Mounds Museum to Screen Fall of the House of Usher

Dickson Mounds Museum will feature the Edgar Allan Poe classic Fall of the House of Usher movie Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the museum’s auditorium as part of THE BIG READ celebration.

THE BIG READ is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture. Spoon River College and Parlin Ingersoll Public Library received 1 of only 75 BIG READ grants awarded nationwide. The literary works of Edgar Allan Poe will be featured at a variety of venues in the area during the months of September and October.

The Fall of the House of Usher features legendary scare-master Vincent Price serves up a diabolical nightmare dripping with brooding evil and sinister suspense. This 1960 film is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s chilling tale about a family driven to savage bloodlust by a power beyond their wildest fears. The film was one to the top five box office hits of 1960.

The film was directed by Roger Corman and its screenplay written by Richard Matheson and also starred Myrna Fahey, and Mark Damon. The film was the first of eight Corman/Edgar Allan Poe inspired feature films. In 2005, the film was listed with the United States National Film Registry as being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

This program is part of the “Raven Lunatics” of Spoon River events series featuring the stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Illinois State Museum – Dickson Mounds is located between Lewistown and Havana off Illinois Routes 78 and 97. The museum is open free to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day. Tours and special programs are available for groups with reservations. For more information call 309.547.3721 or TTY 217.782.9175 or visit the museum’s web site at www.museum.state.il.us/ismsites/dickson/

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