I was excited to read this one after having read A House With Good Bones, but I think this one just wasn't for me. I love the idea of a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher and I think the atmosphere is set really well, I just had trouble getting into it.

WHAT MOVES THE DEAD – by T. Kingfisher

If you are a fan of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” then I think you will enjoy—as I have—Kingfisher’s version set in 1890.

Highly Recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Nightfire Publishing, for providing me with an eBook of WHAT MOVES THE DEAD at the request of an honest review.

This was not a perfect gothic novella, but it was an enjoyable read. I love this author's writing style. The descriptions of this world she created were so realistic. I just wish that it had been more creepy and gruesome. The cover art overpromises on the gore and the writing does not deliver. I definitely want to read more from this author.

I have read some classic literature, but "The Fall of the House of Usher" is not one that was known to me, so I figured I would give this one a try. What Moves the Dead was a great retelling. Most of the time I don't appreciate an unreliable narrator, however, it makes this novella! I didn't know what was real or what was imagined and that added to the horror aspect.
This was a first from Kingfisher for me, but won't be the last.
Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read this novella in exchange for a free and unbiased review.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

A fairly good retelling of The Fall of Usher by Poe. While there are bits and pieces that seemed a little bit unnecessary (the warrior bit of the character backstory) overall it kept me engaged and I enjoyed it. Also a very quick read, which is always nice in a retelling. I hate when stories are drawn out where they don't need to be, and this did not do that.

Definitely gave off Fall Of The House Of Usher meets Mexican Gothic vibes. Overall, it's a solid novella. I think one of the things I enjoy most about Kingfishers writing is how atmospheric is. I just love the creepy settings in their writing as well.


I will definitely be checking out the second book as well.

T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead is a captivating and unsettling reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story, The Fall of the House of Usher. With her signature blend of dark humor, gothic horror, and intricate storytelling, Kingfisher breathes new life into a timeless tale, making it both accessible and chilling for contemporary readers.

The novel follows retired soldier Alex Easton, who receives a distressing letter from Madeline Usher, an old friend who is gravely ill. Compelled by loyalty and concern, Easton travels to the remote and decaying Usher estate. Upon arrival, Easton is greeted by a landscape and a family in severe decline. The once-grand house is crumbling, and the lake surrounding it seems to pulse with an eerie, otherworldly energy.

Kingfisher’s reimagining of the Ushers is masterful. Roderick and Madeline are depicted with a haunting realism that captures their physical and psychological deterioration. Roderick’s heightened sensitivity to his surroundings and Madeline’s mysterious illness are rendered in vivid detail, enhancing the atmosphere of dread that pervades the novel. Kingfisher’s portrayal of the Usher siblings adds depth and nuance to Poe’s original characters, making their plight all the more compelling.

Easton, the protagonist, is a well-drawn and sympathetic character. Their military background and pragmatic nature contrast sharply with the gothic horror of the Usher estate. Easton’s practical approach to the bizarre and terrifying events unfolding around them provides a grounding perspective for the reader. Kingfisher’s choice to use Easton as the narrator adds an element of modern sensibility to the story, making the narrative both engaging and relatable.

The novel excels in creating an atmosphere of creeping horror. Kingfisher’s descriptive prose brings the decaying Usher estate to life, with its oppressive air, strange fungal growths, and the omnipresent sense of something not quite right. The slow, deliberate pacing allows the tension to build gradually, culminating in moments of genuine terror. The addition of new characters, such as the eccentric Dr. Denton and the local herbalist Hob, enriches the narrative and provides fresh perspectives on the Usher family's curse.

One of the standout elements of What Moves the Dead is its exploration of themes such as decay, madness, and the unnatural. Kingfisher delves into the biological and ecological aspects of the horror, introducing a sinister, sentient fungus that seems to be connected to the Ushers' decline. This unique twist adds a layer of scientific intrigue to the gothic narrative, blending genres in a way that feels fresh and innovative.

Kingfisher’s writing is sharp and evocative, with a touch of dark humor that lightens the mood without undermining the horror. The dialogue is crisp and believable, and the characters’ interactions feel natural and engaging. The narrative’s balance of humor and horror is expertly managed, making the novel a compelling read from start to finish.

In conclusion, What Moves the Dead is a brilliant reimagining of a gothic classic. T. Kingfisher has crafted a novel that honors the spirit of Poe’s original work while infusing it with new life and creativity. With its rich atmosphere, well-developed characters, and unique twists, What Moves the Dead is a must-read for fans of gothic horror and literary adaptations. Kingfisher’s ability to blend horror, humor, and heart makes this novel a standout addition to contemporary gothic fiction.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

A witty and atmospheric gothic horror novel. Perfect for readers looking for something immersive and chilling.

I love T. Kingfisher. I wasn't super crazy about the writing style of this book but I still enjoyed it and will be picking up the sequel.


Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC!

TW: Language, anxiety, depression, death by suicide, smoking, PTSD, grieving, animal death (graphic), sexism

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruravia.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
Release Date: July 12th, 2022
Genre: Horror
Pages: 165
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Story is based on House of Usher
2. Enjoyed the retelling of story

What I Didn't Like:
1. Over rabbits being in all books
2. The monotone writing
3. Did not like the main character
4. "The Dead don't walk" 14 uses
5. Repetitive
6. I hated the audiobook
7. Some parts are confusing
8. All the rambling

Overall Thoughts:
Wait is Alex a female? It's mentioned that they have to bind their breasts to hide that they are female, but curious how that would work when changing or bleeding during monthly.

I honestly hate the monotone of this book. It's so straight forward and dull.

I am so sick of rabbits in books. I swear they are in every weird book anymore. I just read them in the retelling of A Haunting on the Hill House and they are pretty much the same as in this book.

It sucks that I did not care for this retelling, but maybe I am just too obsessed with the original story. I am a HUGE fan of Poe and so it was already perfect for me.

Final Thoughts:
I absolutely hated The audiobook. I had to switch to reading the book. All the voices were so bad.

I will read the next book in the series as Tor did send me the ebook of it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Tor Nightfire, and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is one of my hands down favourite horror novels ever. The characters were so real, and the atmosphere was chillingly perfect. I’m a devoted fan to any retelling of poe’s works but this one was absolutely breath taking. It took every element that makes Poe a classic and ramped it up to 11.

Alex Easton finds a very gruesome situation when they visit the Usher estate upon receiving word that their dear friend, Madeline Usher, is gravely ill. The Usher's home on the hill is practically falling apart into the vile tarn surrounding it, and yet Roderick--Madeline's brother and Easton's prior comrade in arms--refuses to move their of them due to health and finances. With the help of an American doctor called Denton and Beatrix Potter's mycologist aunt, Easton investigates the situation surrounding the sickness of the property and the bizarre behavior of Madeline and many, many wild hares, just to discover how grotesque and terrifying nature can really be. Loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, What Moves the Dead goes in-depth into the sickness that truly brought on the destruction of the Usher name.

Over the course of the book, as the characters are paying more and more attention to the bizarre happenings, looking closer and closer at the setting -- specifically the tarn with its infected fish and hares, and the molding, dank manor itself -- the setting becomes more and more intriguing. The more descriptions that injected themselves into the narrative, the more the reader is led to ask "could it be the this? Or could it be this?" and to obsess over the details. It then leads to visceral, gruesome scenes including bodies disappearing and movement during autopsies alongside paranoia that comes with any contagion narrative.

I found the moments of dark whimsy and humor to be very entertaining, particularly when in reference to other excellent works such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Alice in Wonderland, and more. I particularly liked Ms. Potter -- claimed in the Author's Note to be the freelance mycologist aunt of Beatrix Potter, author of The Tales of Peter Rabbit (an equally fabulous and vile footnote given the state of the rabbits in this story.) Ms. Potter doesn't have quite as much page-time as the other characters, but I found it delightful that regardless of the weird, biological horror nonsense that was unfolding around her, she just popped up in random places painting watercolors of mushrooms. She was like the entertaining NPC that by the last third of the book, became an irreplaceable character. Her demeanor was delightful, even when in dire situations, and she was a constant refresher amongst the gloomy handful of others.

In that this is the first full book I've read in a while--and that I finished it in two to three days--I liked the pace. In my current mindset, I needed to read something quick and interesting to me. I found this book very easy to read; it was quick paced, at an easy reading level, and short. Overall, I think the summary provided by the publisher somewhat rings true; however, certain descriptors imply a deeper darkness than I think was delivered, as well as there being more emphasis on the bizarre actions of Madeline and Roderick Usher than focused on. I would have preferred more detail and steeping in the more horrific aspects. That being said, I see so many possibilities for the sequel. I think that the second installment will blow the first book out of the water, so to speak.

This book is advertised as Adult Fiction; however, I do think it could be a good New Adult title as well, especially if there is an interest in the horror genre. Of course, What Moves the Dead is based on the source text The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, which has numerous retellings, such as the fabulous Netflix Original series of the same name, and hundreds of other Poe-inspired works. I think fans of Edgar Allen Poe, of course, would enjoy this retelling. I also think that anyone intrigued by the beginnings of mass outbreaks would find this fascinating. It is definitely more for horror readers that are more interested in gross horror than in psychological horror. T. Kingfisher adamantly suggests reading Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It's not a book, but this also reminds me of The Last of Us. Another great albeit weird fungal narrative is also The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley. If you are more interested in the scientific horror/ thriller aspects, books like Jurassic Park and Prey both by Michael Crichton or Into the Drowning Deep by Seanan McGuire would likely appeal to you.

Succinct and beautifully written and utterly, disgustingly terrifying. Up until about the 50% mark, I had absolutely no idea where this was going, and once I figured it out, I could hardly get myself to turn the page. I loved every second of it. The pacing was fantastic. The characters were wonderfully built out for a story less than 200 pages in length. Perfect for fans of The Last of Us who are, for some godforsaken reason, craving more cordyceps-inspired horror. Would recommend reading to a playlist of atmospheric movie scores!

So this is a retelling of the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allen Poe. Madeline and Roderick Usher are of course the subject of the story and it is told from the point of view of their longtime friend Alex Easton, a retired officer in the Ruravia army. They received a letter that Madeline is dying and they rush to their crumbling ancestorial home to be by her side.
When Easton arrives, they can tell something is definitely amiss. From strange staring hares that watch silently from the countryside paths, to the white hairs that seem to be growing out of Madeline's skin.
With the help of an American doctor and the unflappable aunt of the now famous illustrator, Beatrix Potter, Easton must solve the mystery of what is taking place in the Usher home.
I really enjoyed this story and weird supernatural elements and fungi that that play significant roll in the story.

T. Kingfisher has done it. She’s written a book that covers multiple genres I don’t prefer: gothic horror, fantasy, retellings of classics, and shades of sci-fi and in one short, clever novella made me thoroughly enjoy all of them. I think only Catriona Ward has obliterated my genre boundaries as efficiently.

In this retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher", our central protagonist, Alex Easton, is a non-binary retired lieutenant in the Gallacian army who’s come to small, rural Ruravia to help their dying childhood friend, Madeline Usher, at her brother Roderick’s behest.

(Since the MC is non-binary, I will use they/them pronouns when referring to them.)

Alarmed by the decayed and untimely aged appearance of the Usher siblings, Easton can make little sense of their rapidly declining conditions. Equally bizarre: What explains the unsettling behavior of those staring white hares that seem to have proliferated in the area, and what is going on with the cold, dark tarn (lake) and the abundance of fungi?

With the help of Roderick’s friend and fellow houseguest, American doctor, James Denton, and Easton’s new acquaintance, quirky British mycologist, Eugenia Potter, will they be able to protect the Ushers or themselves from the menace of death that seems to be closing in?

Kingfisher brings the Usher house and surrounding grounds alive in the most deliciously creepy, ominous way, making everything, animate or inanimate equally suspect. The threat feels all-encompassing, and you can sympathize with Roderick’s paranoia and jumpiness. Easton is a strong, intelligent MC, and it was fun to watch them puzzle through the mystery with Denton and Ms. Potter, who I have to say was my favorite character, alongside Easton’s opinionated horse, Hob.

It’s not necessary to have read Poe’s original work to enjoy this. In fact, in some ways it might be better to let this version speak for itself. I read the original after this, and it was fun to see in hindsight how Kingfisher tweaked and added her own imagination to the bones of Poe’s story. It’s my first book of hers, but it won’t be my last. She’s a wonderful, imaginative, funny writer!

A few notes:

Gallacia has a whole set of pronouns “ta/tan”, “ka/kan”, “va/van”, etc. that are explained and widely used, so that takes a little getting used to.

Easton has a pretty low opinion of Americans, so there are not infrequent humorous jabs taken at Denton. You’ll either find it funny or you’ll be put off by it. I chose to see the humor.

There are a couple gruesome scenes involving hares. It’s not gratuitous or malicious, and it makes sense within the story, but it may be upsetting for some readers.

The author’s note is important! Don’t skip it, but wait until you’ve read this book first. The book will inevitably get compared to another well-known book with similar themes, which I won’t name for spoiler reasons, but Kingfisher addresses that.

A clever take on an old tale, The Fall of the House of Usher, with fresh characters. I enjoyed the combination of horror, mystery, and humor typical of T. Kingfisher. I immediately wanted more.

I gave it 4 stars not 5, so that means something's wrong with it, right? Wrong. I never read the in the horror genre. I simply don't like scary fiction (or nonfiction, for that matter).. But T Kingfisher is one of my favorite living writers, so I read pretty much everything she writes. I always enjoy it, yes, even the horror books. It's just that I like her fantasy work even more.
So if you are a fan of horror, prepare yourself for a genuine treat. This author can REALLY write!

This T. Kingfisher book was the perfect amount of creepy. I spent a good amount of 2023 reading horror books and especially working on a bunch of Kingfisher's books and this one was a definite favorite. It was creepy, it was atmospheric, it was spooky. I can't wait to get to book 2 and see if the creepy sticks around.