I am not usually a fan of retellings so I was most pleasantly surprised with my feelings about this novella. T. Kingfisher took Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” into a world of gothic fantasy with clever creativity and stunning descriptions. The main character, a non binary retired lieutenant sets out to rural Ruravia to help their fataly ill childhood friend, Madeline. Once our protagonist arrives the site of Madeline’s horrific decaying body as well as other bizarre happenings around the town, including some freakish hares who haunt the grounds, and a woman obsessed with fungi begins their hunt for secrets. T. Kingfisher captures the settings through her magical way of writing while also interspersed with some real creepy scenes and laugh out loud moments. I love dark humour when it is used so perfectly and Kingfisher nailed it! This book is mystical, mysterious, and theatrical…a hair raising delight!

I absolutely loved this slow burn of a novel. T. Kingfisher is a genius and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one after hearing it was shaped after my favorite Poe story. The characters and the twists and turns this book offered were delightful!

What an interesting take on the story of Roderick and Madeline Usher. I was increasingly uncomfortable with the creepy hares that lived by the lake. Character development was excellent.

I know they say not to judge a book by its cover but that is definitely not true about this book. Really everything you need to know about this book is right there on the cover.
This book was a little slow to start but once it got going it definitely got going. It took me some time to really get what was happening but it was brilliant. Once the mysteries started to unfold in this book I couldn't put it down. The darker aspects of this book where very well done. My only wish really was that we got a bit more explanation on the main character. I was very curious about them.

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! So much yes!

This is the book I didn’t know I needed. As you know, I rarely read a synopsis about a book (unless it’s a new author or I’m just not sure if it’s the right ARC for me) so I had absolutely no idea what this book would be about.

I read the first page and asked myself, “OMG! Is this a rewrite of The Fall of the House of Usher?”

And it was!

Most of you probably don’t know that I am a HUGE Edgar Allan Poe fan, but I realllllllllly am. As an English teacher, I always find a way to bring his work into the classroom around Halloween.

Usher was one of those stories that I have read a couple times, but really didn’t remember too well, unfortunately. So, reading this was amazing!! Not only will I remember this story for it’s overwhelming creepiness factor, but because it was surprisingly, dare I say it, BETTER than the original. 😱

I absolutely loved Easton and the differences between the two stories. It widened the narrative and added elements to set the story apart. I really enjoyed the sprinkles of Shakespeare and Poe’s other works in there as well!

It’s creepy and just plain fantastic!

And, for what it’s worth, Kingfisher almost didn’t publish it because of its similarity to Mexican Gothic, but it is SO MUCH BETTER than Mexican Gothic, IMO.

Captivating and perfectly eerie, What Moves the Dead is a gothic horror story perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic. This book is stunning, from the cover to the writing. We follow a non-binary Lieutenant come to visit ill childhood friends in their dilapidated gothic home next to a rather unsavory lake. I thoroughly enjoyed this story from start to finish and highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an e-arc of this book.

4.5 stars! This is such an interesting book for only 131 pages. While a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher, T. Kingfisher's work goes above and beyond that tale. It is weird, creepy, and atmospheric but in the best way. I am a sucker for well-written prose, and this book did not disappoint.

The MC is non-binary and I am really appreciating that the horror genre seems to be one of the places where representation in books is becoming the norm, not the exception.

T. Kingfisher is seriously one of the best horror/gothic writers of this time and made a classic story by Poe into an even darker, more sinister beast of its own. Additionally, the cover is one of the creepiest, yet most beautiful things I have seen in a long time. It fit the book so well, and I'll just say it here... the mushrooms!! (this reminded me of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic).

I will definitely be reading much more of T. Kingfisher's work in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor/Forge publishers for an advanced e-readers copy of the book. This did not affect my opinions in any way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for an e-arc and alc of this one!

When Alex gets a message from kan childhood friend Madeline Usher that she is dying, kan heads to the decaying Usher estate to do what kan can. But there is a lot more going on at the estate than Alex realizes, and with the help of Denton--Roderick Usher's American Doctor friend--and a local mycologist, Alex is able to solve the secrets of Usher--but not without casualties.

This is a fantasy "Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe retelling. When I read that, and that the protagonist was nonbinary--I instantly knew I had to read this book. I was not disappointed! Alex is such an interesting character and I loved the descriptions of Gallacian pronouns and what it meant to be a sworn soldier as well as the work kan goes through to find out what is happening at the estate. I also really love that there wasn't any romance at all in this story!

I love the atmospheric and creepy gothic mode that Kingfisher was able to establish throughout this book and how well it matches with the source material, while at the same time bringing something entirely new to the story. The discussions of mushrooms and descriptions of unnatural hares and everything else that went along with it made this book delightfully creepy and everything I was looking for!

Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Death
Minor: Transphobia, Suicide, and Misogyny

this book was just fine. this is a retelling of the fall of the house of usher and i love poe so much so despite not loving t. kingfisher's other work i still wanted to try it out. while i did enjoy some things about this like the incorporation of a non-binary character, especially in a historical setting and the atmosphere, this book didn't work for me.

the writing i think was my main problem. this book was really written like it was a classic and i couldn't stand it. if i wanted classic writing i would read a classic. i don't mind historical but this was too much for me personally but others may not mind it. i also didn't care for the plot a lot but the fungus twist was done in a semi-interesting way because it went more scientific. i read mexican gothic and didn't love it either so maybe i don't like this twist but i didn't mind it in this book. it just wasn't my favorite. i felt like this meandered a lot and i was bored most of the time.

as i said the atmosphere was fantastic though and it's genuinely what kept me reading and prevented me from dnfing this. i love poe so much but somethin about this just didn't hit for me. i don't really like haunted house stories either and even the original house of usher isn't my favorite so that could be potentially why as well.

thank you to tor nightfire, t. kingfisher, and netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

I've never read The Fall of the House of Usher but I certainly am going to now! I liked the narrator and I liked the pronoun system and how it ties into the end! I must say that Kingfisher is very good with imagery! I'm not sure what I didn't love about this. I think I was just slightly bored until the ending.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Poe and I love gothic stuff and this was a great retelling with some twists. The author is right -- fungus is fascinating and it is well-utilized here. And this was sufficiently creepy!

3.5 stars.

This is a translated version of the original review published on Goodreads in spanish:

Score: 4.5 Stars.

What a surprise has "What Moves the Dead" been. First of all, I want to thank TOR for accepting my request, I was looking for a horror read to help me get started for this year's spooky season and this book has perfectly accomplished that mission.

This is a short novel. In less than 200 pages, T. Kingfisher is able to introduce us to the main characters, the context of the plot and tell us everything that happens inside the Usher mansion. Due to the short length of this book I want to avoid giving too many details, so I will add that I loved the scenes where, after learning the truth, Madeline reveals a little more about her illness. I got goosebumps imagining various scenes from this book, and that doesn't happen very often with my readings.

The ending of the book is very satisfying. I'm still impressed by how the author was able to tell us all this in so few pages.

The book can be read perfectly in a couple of sittings, which makes it a perfect read for a rainy weekend. In addition, I also recommend it to those who are looking for a horror book to read this October, it will surely not disappoint you.

The appeal of Poe comes from the ability to make even the most mundane of things a source of unsettling horror. In this retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher, Kingfisher is able to take that sense of unease from the source material and magnify it while simultaneously expanding it in a fresh direction that makes it clear that the real story lies, not with the slow decline of the Ushers, but the Rise of Something Else.

The setting of the story in Gallacia--a more firmly identified, yet still fictional, European country of indistinct location--echoes that of other adventure novels, while also giving Easton and their compatriots the air of an accepted oddity on a personal level, leaving all of the mystery unburdened by the want or lack of explanation for how these modern-edged pieces fit into those very Victorian-shaped roles.

Speaking of, the characters populating this Ruritania-esque landscape are a fantastic. Easton's solid practicality, Miss Potter's pragmatic eccentricity, Angus' no-nonsense presence, Denton's mixture of open-minded and down to earth, and Madeline and Roderick's ethereal, doomed, waifish desperation all mix to create delightful company, even if the setting and circumstances themselves are falling apart around them.

Finally, Kingfisher is entirely correct: rabbits and mushrooms are weird, and should be treated with the utmost caution.

A creepy and atmospheric re-telling of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. There's also a reminiscence of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic. Especially with the mycelium networks...

*Special thanks to Tor-Nightfire and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel.

To say I was excited for this book would be an understatement. After diving into my first T. Kingfisher book, Nettle and Bone, and adoring it as much as I did, I was eager to get back to this particular author’s macabre style of verse. However, What Moves the Dead is meant to be a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Fall of the House of Usher. A classic I was not familiar with. While I don’t necessarily believe that a reader must be familiar with the source material of a retelling, I did find that last time—when this was the case for myself—I was frustrated by my own inability to discern if the aspects I disliked about the story were the result of it being based off of something already written. Or if they were unique to the new author themselves.
Luckily, after a quick sparknotes summary, I was good to go.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed this novel, and found it both creepy and gothically beautiful in its own way. In terms of how it differs from Poe’s version, I will say that I am in full support of the rewrite, and believe that Kingfisher brought a unique perspective that pulls at themes of culture and gender and adds them to the overall discourse of isolation, identity, and familial ties that the original was peppered with. In short, it’s the perfect read for fans of classic horror, but also crave books that challenge current social norms.
I wholly recommend What Moves the Dead, and hope to see it pop up on a lot more TBR lists. It is creepy and dark, but not so far gone as to be terrifying. Making it perfectly accessible for anyone wanting to dip their toe in some darker waters.

This might be controversial, but I enjoyed T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead more than Poe’s original The Fall of the House of Usher.

Alex Easton, a non-binary retired soldier, receives a letter from Madeline Usher stating that she is dying and wants Alex to visit her before she passes. Alex immediately hastens to the Usher estate. Along the way, they notice funky-looking mushrooms, a lake with an unnatural quality, and certain animals moving and behaving strangely.

When they finally reach the property, Alex is surprised to learn their visit is unexpected. It turns out that Madeline’s twin, Roderick, had no idea that she had written to Alex.

Despite both Ushers looking worse for wear in their crumbling mansion, the first few days of Alex’s visit occur without incident. But as time passes, things begin to take a frightening turn.

This fun and creepy novella entirely follows Alex’s perspective. It’s categorized as horror, but it’s not as scary as I was expecting, which is good since I scare easily. It is highly atmospheric with palpable tension - I almost felt like I was right beside Alex. The writing style embodies the time period but doesn’t feel dry.

There are some gory descriptions, as one might expect from the genre. I also appreciated the humour, which helped balance out the tenser sections.

This was my first time reading T. Kingfisher, and I think I’ll seek out The Twisted Ones next.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for providing a widget in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

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 lieutenant in the fictional 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:

Fictional 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 VERY 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 issue.

★★★★

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire, NetGalley and author T. Kingfisher for this digital ARC to honestly review. It will be published on July 12, 2022.

This is a really fun and creepy twist on edgar allens poes short story The fall of house Usher. So obviously it takes place in a scary manor house, love that setting for a horror, really can’t go wrong with it. The plot is actually incredibly similar to Mexican Gothic but with much more humor sprinkled in.. We follow Easton who is a soldier and he gets a called from his friend saying she needs help after becoming ill so he goes to visit her. He soon realizes the ancient manor she is staying at is very sinister. the sickness she has is strange, the house is full of fungi, and even the rabbits around the countryside are all deformed and twisted. It’s absolutely horrifying at times. I love the setup for these kinds of horrifying stories so I recommend trying it out!
Full review to come on YouTube.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Tor/Forge publishing for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was okay. It was your typical 'The Fall of the House of Usher'retelling and offered nothing new or original. The prose was very flowery, written in a style that emulates that of Poe. The writing was fantastic. The descriptions of the affected creatures were phenomenal. It was a good gothic horror. It definitely didn't add anything new to the genre, but it was extremely well written.

I'd give this 3 stars. It was well written and very poetic, but it wasn't anything original.

Gothic and atmospheric, WHAT MOVES THE DEAD is the prefect book to read in the autumn, curled up in front of a roaring fire with a mug of tea. It’s fabulously written, with well-timed comic relief via the narrator’s wit and sarcasm, and dynamic characters who leap off the page. Even the manor house and the lake were a formidable presence throughout the book.

There were a few times when WHAT MOVES THE DEAD gave me MEXICAN GOTHIC vibes, and then I read the author’s note at the back of the book and came to understand why :)

If you’re a fan of gothic horror, Edgar Allen Poe, creative villains, and retellings with a twist, then you will love this book!

I received a free e-ARC of this book via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.