Isso é "Usher II" também conhecido como "Abril de 2005: Usher II " também conhecido como " Carnaval da Loucura ", uma pequena história de Ray Bradbury em seu Martian Chronicles . Foi publicado pela primeira vez em Thrilling Wonder Stories , abril de 1950 , disponível no Arquivo da Internet . Alguma de essas capas soa bem? (Essas não são todas as capas sob as quais esta história apareceu, apenas aquelas em que a título é dado como "Abril de 2005: Usher II".)
Um trecho:
And for the third time, a scream.
"What now?" said Garrett apprehensively.
"It's my turn," said Miss Drummond. "Look."
And a second Miss Drummond, shrieking, was nailed into a coffin and thrust into the raw earth under the floor.
"Why, I remember that," gasped the Investigator of Moral Climates. "From the old forbidden books. The Premature Burial. And the others. The Pit, the Pendulum, and the ape, the chimney, the Murders in the Rue Morgue. In a book I burned, yes!"
O final:
"I want this to be perfect," said Stendahl, holding his lantern up so its light penetrated in upon the slumped figure. "Jingle your bells softly." The bells rustled. "Now, if you'll please say, 'For the love of God, Montresor,' I might let you free."
The man's face came up in the light. There was a hesitation. Then grotesquely the man said, "For the love of God, Montresor."
"Ah," said Stendahl, eyes closed. He shoved the last brick into place and mortared it tight. Requiescat in pace, dear friend."
He hastened from the catacomb.
In the seven rooms the sound of a midnight clock brought everything to a halt.
The Red Death appeared.
Stendahl turned for a moment at the door to watch. And then he ran out of the great House, across the moat, to where a helicopter waited.
"Ready, Pikes?"
"Ready."
"There it goes!"
They looked at the great House, smiling. It began to crack down the middle, as with an earthquake, and as Stendahl watched the magnificent sight he heard Pikes reciting behind him in a low, cadenced voice:
"'. . . my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder—there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters—and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the House of Usher.'"
The helicopter rose over the steaming lake and flew into the west.