I finished the novella early this morning. I really, really enjoyed it. I am officially into mushroom horror. If the book were physical I'd set it along side Mexican Gothic on my shelf. The author does note Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia as some parts inspiration beyond her inspiration in retelling The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe...which I have not read. Maybe I'll get on that?

When I started reading I wondered what the point of retellings were, but reading books like What Moves the Dead gives me the desire to pick up old books to see what inspired the story.

This book will publish on July 12, 2022 and was gifted to me via #netgalley and #tornightfire in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thanks to Macmillan and NetGalley for granting me an advanced reader copy of this book!

This would be a 4.5/5 ⭐️ review if possible! Sticking to 4/5 on the goodreads system.

What Moves the Dead takes readers back into Edgar Allen Poe’s iconic House of Usher. Childhood friends with Madeline Usher, the narrator Easton is devastated to receive a letter saying she is sick. Setting out at once for the rundown estate, Easton discovers things in the dreary mansion are worse than they could have imagined.

This is the most well done gothic novel I have read from a modern author. The building sense of dread was so effective that I had a physical reaction multiple times. The entire tone and mood of the novel had me scared down to my bones in the best way. Kingfisher acknowledges themselves in the authors note that there are similarities between this novel and Mexican Gothic, but this book achieved where the other fell short for me. Mexican Gothic never delivered the punch I was looking for, but What Moves The Dead hit a horrific fever-pitch multiple times.

I would be remiss not to mention the brilliant supporting characters in this novel. Denton, the American war-surgeon, and Miss Potter - the British aspiring mycologist, were spectacularly done. I was excited to hear Miss Potter’s thoughts any time she appeared, and was thrilled to see the role she took in the finale. I found myself questioning up until the final moments if these characters were to be trusted, which is one of my favourite things to encounter in a gothic or mystery novel.

There was only two things that kept this from being a five star book for me. 1: The narration style. 2: The slightly over-complicated pronoun system.

The narration wasn’t bad, it was just a bit confusing. Easton got so sidetracked sometimes with joking narrative thoughts that it became distracting from the plot and prose. I finished the novel undecided if I liked it or hated it, which to me seems like it didn’t give the desired effect.

I adored the quasi-non binary representation from Easton, and the “sworn soldier” backstory was fascinating. However, Kingfisher created a system of pronouns to achieve this, and it often felt very clunky and shoehorned in when mentioned. Though I understand the effect the author was trying to achieve in creating this system, I personally think sticking to they/them would have helped the novel read more smoothly. This is probably a matter of preference, and ultimately I am happy to read an odd pronoun system if it means seeing some much needed gender diversity in literature.

Overall, a really well-done gothic novel that I would happily recommend to anyone interested in the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for an arc copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

In preparation for reading this book I quickly breezed thru the audio of The House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. Maybe a bit too quickly as it was over and I was still left wondering what happened. My understanding was that the house was killing it's occupants but they wouldn't leave knowing this.

So Act 2- What Moves the Dead... as a fan of Kingfisher's adult horror books I was pumped to have received a copy of this book. Just look at that beautiful cover, appreciated by horror fans everywhere. This story was a retelling of the House of Usher but with a lot more explanation with excellent and terrifying details. Think Covid that can take over your body and move you. HA! This story was excellent, I finished it in one sitting and loved every minute of it.
Way better than Usher. A must read for fans of Kingfisher. She done it good!

A great homage to Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher.” Using the classic characters of Madeline and Roderick Usher, and adding her own, the author brings to life an innovative and very creepy story. When I read that this was a Gothic mansion beset by fungus, I immediately thought of Silvia Moreno Garcia’s wonderful “Mexican Gothic.” Kingfisher acknowledges this in her afterword but, as she says, she wanted her own take and she got it. Usher House is just as spooky as in the original Poe story and the Ushers as enigmatic. I loved the historical and cultural background she gives to the narrator, Alex Easton, as well as the explanation of the strange phenomena. Easton is quite smart and knowledgeable about science so, with the help of an American doctor, the fictional aunt of Beatrix Potter and other characters, sets out to fix the problem. I loved the twisted sense of humor that balances the dread that almost chokes the reader. Dark, but excellent!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire!

Absolutely loved this one. The gothic vibe was perfectly cold, creepy, and chilling. The mix of sickness with the paranormal twist of a host body being taken over by the fungus was the weirdest thing I've read in awhile and it totally worked. My favorite character was Miss Potter. She was the perfect side character to add some interest to the story and bring things all together. Was not expecting that ending at all. I also appreciated the author's note at the end because I didn't realize this had anything to do with Poe at first. Very interesting!

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for allowing me to read this on Netgalley for an honest review.

This horror novella has moved into one of my favorite reads of the year. I have not read a T. Kingfisher novel before but now need to seek out all stories by them. This story is wonderful, like any good horror novel it will leave you sleeping with the lights on and contemplating the universal themes within and wanting more.

This gothic story is inspired by Poe's House of Usher which many of us read as teenagers in school. I only have vague recollections of being a bit confused and knowing there is a creepy house. The setting in this is fantastic, oozing hair-raising vibes with the creepy house still being present, along with a sinister lake and unnatural events occurring.

My favorite parts of this novella are indeed the writing and the characters, especially Alex our retired soldier lead. They are equal parts humorous, intelligent and loyal. The other characters including the troubled Usher siblings Madeline and Roderick, an American doctor Denton and mycologist Eugenia are all interesting and have great interactions as they try to figure out what the hell is going on. The writing was easy to follow along with the quickly moving plot and has some wonderful quotable passages that beg for a reread.

My only gripe is the ending seemed a bit abrupt but it was still wholly satisfying. Also it is worth mentioning that the cover art is superb. Perfect for fans of Moreno-Garcia this book is one I would highly recommend to everyone but of course fans of gothic horror will devour this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge / Tor Nightfire for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My first impression of this book was, yes, the cover. And my breath was taken away by it. What an amazing, creepy, beautiful piece of artwork, unnerving and poetic, in tandem with the unnerving and poetic feel of the writing style of this book.

I will be judging this book on its own merit, and not as a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher. I have not read The Fall of the House of Usher in ages, and as such, I can say with certainty that this book stands easily on its own. I probably should re-read it, as it’s only forty pages apparently, but I digress.

I found the descriptions in the book to be wholly unsettling, which T. Kingfisher is exceptionally good at. There is a mystery afoot, but it’s not a whodunit. It’s intriguing, it’s Gothic, it is dark and brooding and I believe the uncanny horrors thoroughly and without question. The writing is so exceptional that I am very excited to dive into T. Kingfisher’s other novels. I have full faith in her to unnerve me with beautiful, poetic, but unsettling words and descriptions. I trust in her sense of a slow, drifting horror. I would recommend to not read this whilst eating, which was the mistake I made earlier, and if you will be eating anyway, I'd stray away from cold lox straight from the package. T. Kingfisher does not shy away from her descriptions, no matter how gruesome, and I love her for that.

Alex Easton, our protagonist, goes to visit dying childhood friend Madeline Usher, and is immediately aware that something is deeply wrong. The falling, crumbling house of Usher holds many disturbing secrets, and Alex Easton is determined to learn what has caused the immediate decline of Madeline and Roderick Usher, and their growing madness. Something else seems to be growing too, a dark, uncanny horror slowly enveloping the house and those within it.

My biggest issue with the book is the lore. The worldbuilding. Yes, America and England do exist. It is almost our world. Except, there is Gallacia, and Ruravia. There are Gallacian words, pronouns, a language made up of bastardized loan words from other languages. There is a humor to the Gallacian protagonist’s tear-down of their own country, a snide remark here and there to express the vast differences between places. Perhaps the use of fake countries was a means to hand wave away other things, such as the fictional mushrooms and their way of functioning. The author’s note states it to be a sort of nod to a sort of Ruritania romanticism, something I admit I was not overly familiar with, and decline to directly comment on as I’m not well-versed in that knowledge.

Alex Easton, our protagonist, goes by Gallacia’s genderless soldier pronouns of Ka/Kan, which is probably more confusing when our narrator explains that there are seven sets of pronouns, depending on if you’re a child, a nun, a soldier, a man, a woman, God, etc.
The lore isn’t so much of a problem if this were a bigger book and it was sprinkled in subtly, but the story pauses at times so the narrator, even in the middle of expressing the horror being experienced, can explain the history of Gallacia, or the language, or the alcohol in Gallacia, or whatever else needs to be explained as it comes up. At times it's like the main character pulls down a map of the world and says “I don’t blame you for missing Gallacia, it’s so small on the map. A blip. It’s this many miles from Gallacia to Ruravia, if you take a horse, and a hundred years ago, this happened, and it mattered to the history of the world, but probably wouldn’t affect the story if we took it out and set it in a rural English countryside regardless, or never explicitly stated where in the world we were anyway.”

In all truth, the lore feels more like it exists to explain the nonbinary main character and the pronouns used. Frankly, it almost implies the nonbinary-ness of the character couldn’t exist in our reality, but only in one where many rules had to be made up to make it acceptable. Nonbinary people cannot exist without this country and the concept of genderless soldiers, or so it seems to be. I don’t imagine that was intentional, but at times, with how many times it has to be explained even within the first half of the story, I find it… a little inauthentic, but I understand the place it comes from and I genuinely appreciate the representation nonetheless. I just wish it could’ve existed on its own merit, as if it didn’t need to be explained. That Alex Easton is nonbinary, and that’s all there is to it, and it’s nobody’s business but Alex Easton’s.

In a larger novel, original, without hint of America, England, Beatrix Potter (well, specifically her aunt, made up for the story, but it’s still implied Beatrix Potter is also a part of this world), I would’ve forgiven the worldbuilding aspects introduced. Language, culture, neighboring fictional countries… but it is wholly out of place in a short horror novel where a good, uninterrupted flow is important for keeping tensions high. As per the author’s note, T. Kingfisher seemed to very much love the character of Alex Easton and ka’s culture, and must have had fun writing kan, but I can’t help but think those aspects could’ve served better in a full-length original fantasy novel where they would have the time to shine. Had they been omitted, this would have made a magnificent short story that would’ve gone straight to the heart of the horror at hand, without constant pitstops for Gallacia history lessons.

I have already gone ahead and requested my director to order the book for the library when it releases, as I will be happy to recommend it to patrons who are looking for a creepy, quiet sort of read for a dreary afternoon.
I am very glad to have gotten to read this book and I cannot wait to talk about it with the patrons and my coworkers when it has officially released. Well worth the read!

What Moves the Dead is a gorgeous, lyrical novella with a haunted cottagecore aesthetic. It immerses you into the twisted house of the Usher family full of mushrooms and secrets. The characters are exquisite! I could read a thousand more pages of each of them. I also love the exploration of gender and how it is perceived in different cultures. Beautiful, master piece.

Oh this was a blast to read. After reading this I just know I’ll be keeping up with Kingfisher’s works in the future. I had lots of fun reading this and I hope when it comes out others have just as much fun as I did!

A wonderful mystery, droll and hilarious, about a possible cause of the Usher siblings’ fatal curse. Characterizations are rich, action is satisfying, and the story is an altogether delightful riff on Poe’s dark musings about what might have brought the House down.

When Alex Easton receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside. They find a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Aided by a British mycologist and an American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

What I like most about Poe’s House of Usher is the symbolism of the house as a body in total decomposition. Poe left me with so many questions. What makes the Ushers sick? What are the secrets of the house?

T. Kingfisher manages to take Poe’s short and breathe new life into it by filling in the missing pieces and answering questions while remaining faithful to the heart of the original story. Kingfisher deftly creates a setting, mood, and atmosphere so unsettling that you feel the gloom and despair on a visceral level. That is an impressive feat for a novella that runs a mere 176 pages.

The main character Alex (they/them) came across as one-dimensional and detached, but I accepted the characterization because it didn’t feel like the story's point. This story is more about symbolism and atmosphere. We witness the horror of the Usher house through Alex’s pragmatic lens. Kingfisher nailed the pacing in the second half of this book; by this point, the story was so damn disturbing that I NEEDED to know the secrets of the house.

The possessed bunnies creeped me out! The image of them twisting and jerking and staring will haunt me.

The book cover gets an A+ from me because it intrigues and repulses me simultaneously. It got under my skin. Highly recommend! I’m going to be thinking about this one for a long time.

What Moves the Dead is a great retelling for one of my favorite stories from Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher! Dark, creepy, mysterious, and unputdownable!

Admittedly, I'm not super familiar with the Fall of the House of Usher. It's been a long time since I've read it, but I don't think that took away from my experience with this. I will say it started out a little bit slow for me, and I think I got a little lost surrounding the early descriptions of Gallacia and its culture. It felt sort of like I was brought into it assuming that things would be understood already which took some getting used to. It's worth noting that this is my first book from this author, so I'm unsure if this was a callback to any previous works. Either way, it was an easy adjustment and didn't detract from my reading experience very much, if at all.

Past that, I enjoyed our narrator, Alex, and found it easy to become invested in the story as well as the plight of the Usher siblings. The supporting characters were fun as well, especially Miss Potter! Once the actual mystery and eeriness of the story got started it was easy to fall in, and the author is great with atmosphere.

Towards the end, I loved how they worked in the fungus and what they chose to do with it in the scope of the story. I'd rather not spoil any of it at all, but it felt so much more chilling than a typical fungal-induced madness. I've been meaning to check out more of the author's works, and this felt like a great springboard to get myself started!

Old Stories Can Be Retold, But Horror Always Feels New

I enjoyed reading this homage to the horror classic, The Fall Of The House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.

T. Kingfisher is skillful in character creation, adapting the story to reflect more modern gender norms, while keeping the story firmly rooted in traditional gothic social constructs. When the world building included alternate pronouns, I balked a bit, though.

Using these new terms felt awkward, as did Game of Thrones' substitution of 'Ser' for 'Sir'. But, drawn in by the mystery and heavy atmosphere of impending doom, I found that there was a purpose in developing this device. I also enjoyed the influence of scientific discoveries on the plot. Kingfisher adeptly brought the old story to a new and darkly vivid reality.

Despite the familiarity of the classic, the fresh take kept the suspense growing from a swelling uneasiness as we approached the House of Usher to the final state of full-blown terror that urged flight, but instead had me frantically turning the pages. Reflecting on certain scenes that continue to pop into my head unbidden makes a chill crawl down my spine.

Thanks to the author, Tor/Forge/Nightfire publisher, and NetGalley for the free advanced reader's copy of this novel. I love getting the opportunity to spread the word and enthusiastically recommend this book.

How have I never read anything by T. Kingfisher before? This is right up my alley. Gothic. Literary-inspired. Has weird nature stuff. I really love how she expanded on ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and gave 100% more dimension to the narrator. And she also lives in and writes about North Carolina apparently?! ‘The Twisted Ones’ is next on my list.

Disclosure: I received an e-ARC copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is another great treat for fans of T. Kingfisher. The books is creepy, vivid, and haunting but with a touch of her signature levity and humor.

If I have a Hare stop and stare at me when I am on a walk I will have no option but to run! The beginning half starts off pretty slow but was able to stay interesting which I find most slower burns do become boring. This one did not. I loved that there were specialist that were human enough to not know everything. There is the sworn soldier who has fought against the enemy, a doctor who knows the human body and a fungus specialist who know a lot about the different mushrooms in the area. Even with all of them together there were so many unknowns which made the story more believable. My favorite character by far was Miss Potter the mushroom lady who only had a small part but I loved when I was able to read about her!

The author gives hi praise to Mexican Gothic in the authors notes. I have read that book as well and, personally, I enjoyed this one so much more.

First off, I'd like to thank Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and the book may still change before release.

This is my second retelling now of The Fall of the House of Usher, but I think this one will definitely leave a stronger impression on me than the first. Even though it's under 200 pages, it hits hard and leaves you thinking, while also being thoroughly haunted by everything you just read. (Personally, I think it'd be even better if it were read all in one sitting, because then you're thoroughly enmeshed into the book by the time the creepy stuff starts happening).

My first experience with horrific fungus was with Mexican Gothic, a book I absolutely adored even as it terrified me. This book hits similar notes, and there's even a nod to Mexican Gothic in the author's note, but deviates strongly enough that it still feels wholly different. While we still have a main character invested in the wellbeing of the residents of the House of Usher and wants to solve what's happening to them, Alex Easton feels entirely different (and I really liked the discussion of gender that kan's character brought about, especially considering the culture Alex came from and that culture's perception of gender). The horror itself also stems from different sources, and parts of this book were more haunting to me. It's always really hard to pull off a true jumpscare in writing, but What Moves the Dead got me good a few times!

Overall, this was a great first introduction to this author, and I honestly really enjoyed this short story, (even if it was so creepy that I had to stop reading late at night!) I'll definitely be trying more from this author, and I can't wait for others to read this upon release!

An excellent retelling of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". Frankly, I greatly preferred Kingfisher's version. I was actually dreading reading this novella a little after rereading Poe's short story to refresh my memory, but I trusted in this author after reading the delightful <I>Nettle & Bone</I>. And although this is not my favorite genre - atmospheric horror - I was very impressed with the direction Kingfisher took and fascinated with her version of what happened to the house of the Usher twins. She gave us a nonbinary former soldier as the narrator, who was a wonderfully drawn character that I'd love to read more about, a really interesting explanation for all the creepiness happening at the house, and some great side characters, including a British mycologist who happened to be Beatrix Potter's aunt! Overall, a fast, fun, interesting read, and you don't need to have read the Poe short story to enjoy it. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Tor Nightfire for a digital review copy.

Non-binary soldier Alex Easton receives a disturbing letter from their army comrade, Roderick Usher, claiming that his sister, Madeline, is dying of a mysterious illness. Alex travels to the Ushers' crumbling estate and confronts the shocking possibility of the walking dead.

Kingfisher's retelling of "The Fall of the House of Usher" opens with a description of mushrooms "the deep-red color of severed muscle", immediately setting a gruesome, bloody tone. Indeed, Alex encounters plenty of creepy things at the Usher estate: zombie rabbits, Madeline's strange bouts of sleepwalking in the night, sinister fungi in the water, But "What Moves the Dead" is ultimately more of a mystery than a horror, which is quite Poe-like, but did not manage to replicate the eeriness of Poe's original.

Give "What Moves the Dead" to fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's "Mexican Gothic" and readers looking to dip their toes into the horror genre, but serious horror fans can give it a pass.