This book what exactly what I thought it would be when I looked at the cover and found out that it was a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher — creepy, atmospheric, gothic, and cool. You’ll never look at mushrooms the same way after reading this, and it was ALMOST enough to make me want to read more horror. Yikes! In a good way.

There are plenty of books that have been rewritten or adapted in various ways and with varying levels of quality in the last many decades (especially works by authors like Lovecraft and Poe) and while one would expect that there were few ways to have another go at producing another take on The Fall of the House of Usher, this one was particularly satisfying and original. Here we 're given a lovely non -binary Alex Easton, a wise mycology enthusiast, a genuine reason for the illness that dwells in the Usher manor, a delightful but never overbearing hint of humor, and a more satisfying conclusion for the gothic classic. Don't pass this one up!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan/Tor-Forge for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. I kind of went into this one blind, since I've never read anything by Edgar Allan Poe and this was said to be a retelling of his book, "The Fall of the House of Usher."
This is my first book by T. Kingfisher. Kingfisher's writing was very descriptive and mysterious. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Alex Easton. Alex is gender-queer and has very different pronouns. I enjoyed the creepiness because I like creepy books! I felt like I could picture everything in my mind perfectly as Kingfisher wrote it. The secret of the House of Usher was captivating and horrifying. I've never read a book like this before. Kingfisher's writing was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬."

I honestly cannot remember if I read The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe back in middle school when we had a section on him. Despite What Moves the Dead being a retelling of the classic horror short story, it felt new to me.

This story was a perfect mixture of the grotesque, unexpected yet greatly appreciated humor, and chilling creepiness. The writing was incredibly immersive and stimulated all of my senses.

Despite the novel being under 200 pages, all of the characters were extraordinary! They all had an essential part to play and I really enjoyed getting to know each of their personalities.

The mycology, the Beatrix Potter tie-in, the sassy animal companion, it all worked for me. Also, look at that cover! The cover art is sublime and becomes all the more intriguing and insightful once you've finished the book. I went out and bought myself a physical copy of this book because I needed it.

I've already requested The Hollow Places from my library because I am eager to read more by this author.

Thank you Tor Nightfire & NetGalley for this e-ARC. What Moves The Dead is out NOW!

I give What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher 4.25 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐🌠

I can truthfully say that this retelling of The House of Usher is one of the creepiest, most unsettling books I've ever read. I loved this book, could not put it down, and now I'm hoping I never see a rabbit staring at me. Or a pulsing lake. The setting is on the moors in Ruritania (a fictional country somewhere in Europe).

Alex Easton, a soldier, has received word that a childhood friend is dying and travels as fast as he can to the House of Usher. When he arrives, Alex finds that Roderick and Madeline are much changed from the last time they were together. Both are very pale and frail, but Madeline is much worse. They have an American doctor also staying with them, and he is baffled by Madeline's condition. The whole house is unhealthy - damp with fungus growing everywhere, even the carpets. The environment outside is no better. Madeline is also walking and talking in her sleep, but she doesn't sound like herself.

I loved the characters in this book. Alex Easton was born a woman and joined the military in his country of Gallacia as a sworn soldier, which means that he is treated like a man and also dresses like every other soldier. Because of that, I have referred to Alex as he/him because his country's language for gender is complicated. His horse Hob has a mind of his own and his own way of expressing his opinions. Another favorite character is an older English woman staying near the House of Usher who - fortunately for Alex - has a passion for studying molds and fungus.

My thanks to the publisher Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for an advance reading copy. It was a pleasure to read and review this book.

Note to publisher: Amazon finally accepted this review on 7/26/2022..

I think to take on a retelling of Poe, especially a beloved tale of Poe is a bold move. But I freaking loved this! I did purchase this as a physical copy and the little extra touches Tor Nightfire put into the copy was ::chef’s kiss::. I love this mix of body horror, supernatural elements, and murder mystery. The dynamic and relationship between all the characters was perfect for the storyline. It’s a short book and I only wish it was longer just so I could stay in this world just a little bit longer. This will be a favorite for years to come and I will be re-reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Though this novella is only 176 pages long, it still felt too long. There were many things I liked; primarily the setting, Madeline, the creepy hares and Hob, the horse. There were some truly spooky moments, however, Kingfisher just never took the story to its full potential. I also felt this way about Nettle & Bone.

Her stories walk the line between Young Adult and Adult in a way that leaves me dissatisfied. There’s not enough grit, drama, tension and in the case of this story, horror. Though this is only a novella, it took me a week to read it because while I didn’t hate it, I was bored for the first 60%. I was especially bored with the main protagonist, Alex Easton. Easton was simply one of those characters that I found to be annoying. She spent a good bit of time trying to be funny but the humor never worked for me.

I think I would have enjoyed this story more if it was edited down. There were many conversations that didn’t seem to add anything to the plot. If those would have been cut out and the spookiness amped up, this could have been a winner.

In this retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher, T. Kingfisher crafts a creepy, unsettling, and unique atmosphere. The Usher house and its surroundings drew me in immediately and unsettled me without knowing exactly how. I love every second of it. This novella is worth the read and exhibits the talent of the author.

There seems to be an emerging trend of mushroom horror quite literally creeping into the genre recently, from The Luminous Dead to Mexican Gothic. It’s a trend I’m totally onboard with and What Moves the Dead completely embraces these elements with T.Kingfisher’s take on The Fall of the House of Usher. With her characteristic tendency to highlight LGBT characters in her stories without making them specifically an “issues” book, she truly managed to do something different with such a renowned text in the genre.

I think those looking for more subtlety in their horror will hit a sweet spot with What Moves the Dead, because it focuses so much more on the atmosphere and growing sense of unease the narrator is wrought with upon their visit to the eponymous house. It doesn’t depict much gore, which isn’t to say the imagery itself that is presented is not disturbing. I know I will be dreaming about white filaments reanimating corpses for a long time yet to come, and Kingfisher really nailed these brief but extraordinary moments of unsettling fungal horror.

What I did find lacking here is the same general things that tend to bother me about novellas - condensed character work into a very short page count. For horror, where the story often needs the time to build the necessary sense of dread and suspense, I think Kingfisher’s tendency to write novellas doesn’t always serve her stories to their greatest potential. But overall a fantastic retelling, one I’d highly recommend reading closer to the months of autumn as a chill creeps into the air and things begin to rot.

Thank you to the publisher Tor Nightfire for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

House of Usher Felled by Fungi

Edgar Allan Poe’s short Gothic mystery, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” gets another grand retelling in T. Kingfisher’s, “What Moves the Dead,” as pulsing, light-emitting, miasmic spores of toxic mold infest a mountain lake and the ancestral home of siblings, Madeline and Roderick Usher.

In Kingfisher’s tale, when family friend, Alex Easton, visits the House of Usher after receiving a letter from Madeline stating that she is ill, he finds her a cadaverous, bone-chilling walking skeleton; Roderick a paranoid and delusional shadow of his former self; and their ancient family estate a nightmarish moldering ruin.

This fun, phantasmagoria expands on Poe’s original tale to offer an alternative theory on the maladies, madness, and misfortunes leading to the decline and ultimate destruction of the House of Usher.

# # #

My sincere thanks and appreciation goes to NetGalley, Author T. Kingfisher, and Publishers Macmillian-Tor/Forge and Tor Nightfire for this Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) for review.

“What Moves the Dead”
Author T. Kingfisher
General Fiction (Adult) | Horror | Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Publication Date 12 July 2022
Macmillian-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire Publishers
The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fantastic. A creative take on a classic story. Very disgusting eco-horror. I've already ordered a physical copy and will be recommending it.

What Moves The Dead is inspired by The House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. While I haven't read the orginal source material I found this quite enjoyable.

This was some spooky shit.
Like
Spooky spooky shit

Alex Easton gets a letter from his childhood friend Madeline Usher. She's ill and dying so they go to visit her. Early on they realize everything isn't right and something is wrong with the lake.

Overall really good. The atmosphere was really interesting and it gave me the creeps in a good way

A recall on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” we meet Alex a solider returning home after word his friend Madeline is dying. When they both find some weird fungus at her house, weird spooky things start to happen.

I like the take of reimagining of Poe’s work. It’s weirder and original and takes on that horror aspect to a whole new level. The house and characters are on a whole new level that has me up all night devouring it. The characters and setting were an added bonus.

If you’re looking for a creepy read to keep you up all night and have you wanting more, look no further. I will take more T. Kingfisher please!!!!

What Moves the Dead is a novella retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher. We follow Alex as he is summoned to the Usher home by his friend, Madeline, because she thinks she is about to die. Things are not right at the Usher home. As you can guess from the cover, there are strange things going on involving fungus and hares.

I love Poe and have read a lot of his work, so I was excited to pick up this retelling. Unfortunately, I just found this novella okay.

Well, this was absolutely disturbing, creepy and atmospheric despite how short the story is. I liked the retelling aspects of this as well even if I am not super familiar with the story being retold.

What an absolute blast! I'm really loving what Tor has been doing with its Todotcom and Nightfire imprints lately with releasing more and more novellas. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher is an extended riff on Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. While the same general plot is there, Kingfisher expands it, queers it, and doubles down on the creep factor, all to great effect! Fungi horror is quickly becoming one of my favorite niche sub genres.

This was gross and I loved it. Are you kidding me? First of all, The Fall of the House of Usher is a delightfully creepy read and wow Poe was really into the mushrooms and the fungus. So, with this, it feels like a proper expansion on it.

Easton is a sword soldier and there’s mention of chest binding. I know a few trans readers who will love this book for a character they can see themselves in. Not to mention the multiple pronoun options. It was nice to see.

It’s not a terribly long book so I really don’t want to spoil the story however if you’ve read Poe’s work then you know a decent amount of what’s going to happen. It’s the why of it. And it’s glorious.

There’s an older Englishwoman who wants to be a recognized mycologist but due to the sexist limits of the day, is forced to be seen as a hobbyist. We’ve got the Usher’s themselves and the American doctor, Denton and Easton’s man Angus.

For such a short book, the characters shine and that’s all thanks to the author’s skill. Not to mention, Easton is pretty entertaining. Some of the language was possibly anachronistic but I didn’t care, it honestly added to the charm of the character. Especially when the story gets particularly gross.

The cove is a pretty solid promise of what you’ll find inside.

The twist of this was great. I couldn’t put it down. Made the mistake of reading it after eating dinner though, if you’ve got an easily queasy stomach, I recommend maybe not doing that.

But I absolutely recommend this book.

Five (5) out of five (5) from me.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

Go buy this book.

It takes a skillful writer to take a classic story and re-imagine into a different, but wonderful, new tale. I was a bit skeptical that T. Kingfisher could pull off a re-imagining of Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. I mean....it's Poe....nobody Poes better than Poe. But....I am happy to state that What Moves the Dead is a wonderful revisit to one of my favorite Poe stories!

This is not my first dip into Kingfisher's writing. I read and enjoyed The Twisted Ones. I usually avoid reworkings of stories by Poe, but since I enjoyed The Twisted Ones, I decided an open mind was a better choice than just refusing to read. I'm glad I made that choice. I loved this book!

Delightfully dark, creepy and atmospheric, Kingfisher recreates the crumbling manor house, the weird vibe of the grounds, and gothic feel of the original while adding sinister imagery and imaginings of her own. I'm definitely buying this book for my collection, but I think I will opt for the audio book. There's just something about having a creepy story read to you! Gotta have it! Which is amazing to me given the fact I usually avoid all re-tellings of Poe like the plague. Not only did I read this one and love it, but I'm going to buy the book. I love it when an author surprises me! I even loved the cover art -- delightfully weird and creepy! Perfect!

I can't wait to see what this author comes up with next! And while I'm waiting, I'm going to do a deep dive into her other books. I love creepy horror and this author does it well!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Macmillan/Tor-Forge. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

“𝐶𝑙𝑖𝑝-𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑝 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑝-𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑝. 𝑇ℎ𝑒-𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡-𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘. 𝑇ℎ𝑒-𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡-𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘. 𝐶𝑙𝑖𝑝-𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑝.”

This may be the case in most places my dear friend Easton, but not when you stumble upon something that moves the dead.

When I first read Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher I was left hungry, starving for answers. Luckily T. Kingfisher wasn’t full either…. Reading 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙈𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙙 was like sitting down to a feast, satiating my ferocious appetite.

Guys, if you like retellings don’t sleep on this one. What Moves the Dead is truly a disturbing delight. The imagery was as beautiful as the cover and the characters were peculiar and elusive, perfectly matching the strange countryside of Ruritania. With a keen sense of humor, fungus galore, and a genderqueer protagonist Kingfisher has breathed new life into this story, much like the mushrooms.

𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: 𝖶𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖠𝗅𝖾𝗑 𝖤𝖺𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗇 𝗋𝖾𝖼𝖾𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗌 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖽𝗁𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝖬𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗇𝖾 𝖴𝗌𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗂𝗌 𝖽𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗋𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗅 𝗁𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖴𝗌𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗌. 𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗇𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖿𝗎𝗇𝗀𝖺𝗅 𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗐𝗍𝗁𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝖽𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾, 𝗌𝗎𝗋𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺 𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗄, 𝗉𝗎𝗅𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗅𝖺𝗄𝖾. 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.

Many thanks to my friends at @tornightfire for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Posted on GoodReads, Amazon, and Instagram @ParksideReads 7/16
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgFH7eXLKg7/

Alex Easton is visiting childhood friends with declining health in their crumbling estate. With the help of an expert of fungus and a doctor they need to find out what is causing the strange sickness in the people and animals in the area.

What Moves the Dead is a fantastic retelling of "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. This story is dripping with atmosphere. It is true to the story and mood of the original while adding on to the story making it all new. This is a story that can be read on its own, but the experience is enhanced by reading the original first.

If you are a fan of Poe, if you love retellings of popular stories, or if you just like a creepy atmospheric tale I recommend this book for you.