Hilariously enough, I spent most of this book thinking about that viral tumblr post about mushrooms. You know the one - where the mushroom says, “you cannot kill me in a way that matters” because decay exists as an extant form of life (a/k/a mushrooms)

Anyway, mushroom rant aside, this book is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ which I admittedly haven’t read and knew nothing about, so I went into this story blind. This book was pretty gross and completely bizarre, but I didn’t dislike it? It was a solid gothic horror read. And at under 200 pages long, it’s easy to knock out in a single afternoon if you want to have a really, really weird day.

T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead, is a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's, The Fall of the House of Usher. I've never read anything by T.Kingfisher before, I couldn't resist the temptation offered by this ARC from NetGalley. I'm a longtime Poe fan, and The Fall of the House of Usher is my favorite.

Alex Easton, a retired Gallacian soldier, receives a letter from his childhood friend, Madeline Usher. The letter is urgent, she doesn't have long left to live and now her brother's health is failing as well. He rides out to the House of Usher, to find the manor decrepit; its occupants too poor to maintain it, and too sickly to leave it. An American surgeon, Dr. James Denton, has been called to treat the Ushers' strange malady, but admits to not knowing what it is or how to help them. As Alex tries to help his friends, he begins to realize there is more to the mystery than meets the eye. Out on the heath, the animals are acting strangely...

The first two paragraphs of this book set the tone for the whole story, like the opening salvo in a war. As Alex rides into town, he passes some dodgy looking mushrooms, life springing forth from decay. The imagery is spectacularly dark, visceral, precisely Poe-esque. With much of her prose, T. Kingfisher totally nailed the tone.

Unlike Poe, who made the house its own character in the story, T. Kingfisher preferred the tarn; the mountain lake residing just beyond the Ushers' doorways became a focal point. It seems equally fitting; water is the one thing all life would perish without, and yet: Creatures from the heath are determined to die in it.

I found much of the history about Gallacian soldiers and Gallacian pronoun use entertaining. It's a subject I know nothing about, but it appears as if the author did her research. It was great for developing Easton as a character, and later for solidifying the tarn as a character.

The only weak spot appears to be dialogue. The characters were all fairly engaging, some of the dialogue is inconsistent for the age of the characters in the timeline that they're in. Certain conversations read a little too young.

Over all, I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. It was heavy on creep factor and the mystery of the mystery illness kept me turning pages. It was an up-all-night kind of book with out the up-all-night length. Depending on when you start reading it, you'll have plenty of night left for sleeping.

Expected publication date is listed as July 12, 2022.

When retired soldier Alex Easton receives word that kan childhood friend, Madeline Usher, is dying, ka rushes to Ruritania and the crumbling Usher manor to attend her and her brother, Roderick, who is unraveling under the strain of his sister’s illness. There, Easton finds a stout-hearted British mycologist, a bewildered American doctor, possessed wildlife, and a tarn that pulses with an eerie glow. The secret to Maddy’s illness is deeply rooted in the Usher home, but it may be too late to save any of them. Note: Easton uses the pronouns ka/kan, reserved specifically for soldiers in kan culture, so my review will likewise reflect those. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Macmillan-Tor/Forge. Trigger warnings: character death, animal death, body horror, some gore, broken bones, severe illness.

I commented in my review of The Hollow Places that the narrators of that novel and The Twisted Ones sounded almost interchangeable, so it’s nice to see Kingfisher mixing it up in What Moves the Dead. Easton’s voice caught me immediately, and I found myself underlining so many of kan lines. Ka is observant and funny, confident in kan skills but self-deprecating in other ways. It was fascinating to read about Easton’s experiences as a soldier and the little bits of Gallacian culture, which enriches the story without overwhelming the current plot. I didn’t have strong feelings about anyone else besides the redoubtable Miss Potter, queen of mycology, who I loved, but as it’s a rather short book, there isn’t really time to develop anyone else.

If I had a complaint about this novella, it’s exactly that: it’s too short. While everything is well-fleshed out in under two hundred pages, all plot threads neatly wrapped up, I wanted more time to sink into these characters and this world and Easton’s charming narrative voice. That being said, it is adapted from a short story, so it’s a wonder Kingfisher managed to do even this much with it. It’s an imaginative take on the original story, with some delightfully creepy moments with Madeline and the hares, and a fascinatingly original explanation for what may have happened at Usher. It’s less gory than the previous novels and, like the original, gets its horror mainly from its well-crafted atmosphere. Although it’s more streamlined and far less flowery, fans of Mexican Gothic should find a lot to appreciate about it. I really loved this, and I can’t wait to have a copy on my shelf.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

This is a pretty grotesque retelling of the Edgar Allen Poe story of The Fall of the House of Usher. I read that way back in high school and I have no memory of it or the plot so this was going in blind. I liked it. It was gross and freaky. I think fungus is neat so all the fungus stuff was really cool. Kingfisher is an brilliant writer. They craft such detailed and extravagant imagery. The pronoun thing that they did with this one was confusing because they just started using the neo-pronouns without explaining what they were until later in the book. Va/Van was confusing because van is a word with a non-pronoun meaning and I was very confused until it was explained. Overall a pretty good and creepy book.

Ready for a quick read to get your mind racing and your stomach churning? T. Kingfisher, who is clearly in the "write whatever I feel like" phase of her career, has written a novelization of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" but she adds a great more detail and then takes it even farther into gothic horror than Poe managed.

The story is narrated by Officer Alex Easton, from a land where soldiers do not have genders, who rushes to Ruritania on word that a childhood friend is dying. Madeline Usher is a pale remainder of her former self, wisping around the house and occasionally speaking like a deranged child. Her brother Roderick is in better shape but the worry over her is killing him, and it doesn't help that they live in a massive, moldy, slowly collapsing house on the moors next to a lake that glows sometimes surrounded by hares that hang around and stare at you. The whole creepy environment seems designed to slowly absorb you, and it may be too late for Easton to get back out...

Kingfisher adores making fairy tales make sense and it seems those skills adapt wonderfully to gothic horror. All of the characters are more completely developed than in the original and she adds more, and brings science into the mix. This book is an evening well spent, especially in a dark room by sputtering candlelight.

What Moves the Dead is such a clever take on Poe's original story. There wasn't anything I didn't like about this story. The narrator's backstory of their hometown and the description of preferred pronouns for different stages in life just added more to the story and was smartly used later in the story. I felt it all came together really well and can't recommend this book enough.

I thought this was a fun side read. I feel like it got you to that creepy factor but never crossed it. The writing was good. Felt like character introduction was unusual but didn't detract too much from the story.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It was weird and creepy and I liked the retelling of The House of Usher, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. But I'd still recommend it because I do enjoy this author.

Retired soldier Alex Easton comes to visit friends in the countryside and finds an organic horror in this retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's Fall of the House of Usher. With the help of an amateur mycologist and an American doctor, Alex tries to save their friends Madeline and Roderick from the consuming rot of their home. This book calls for a strong stomach, as the scientific accuracy is high and the writing is evocative, but a little nausea is worth it for the stellar narrative and creativity of What Moves the Dead.

This is so beautifully written. A great, quick and short afternoon read to get lost in. The cover art is absolutely stunning and was what drew me in originally. Great for dabs of Edgar Allan Poe!

Absolutely bizarre read and I really liked it. In some ways, it reminded me of Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer with the whole "What the heck did I just read" vibe. I think some of our patrons will eat this right up, so we are definitely purchasing a couple of copies.

This is not THE strangest book I have read this year, but it's certainly up there. I'll admit I went into this one without prior knowledge of Poe's Fall of the House of Usher and I'm honestly not sure if that would be in the reader's favor or not. (I'm certainly going to look into the source material now)

I will say that the atmosphere of this book is spot on. Its haunted and gothic and chilling. The way Kingfisher describes the hares in the book and how they act is definitely something out of nightmares. The strength of this book IS the atmosphere and how its described. The devil is in the details, as they say, and the details really make this book sing.

Where this failed for me, though, was the pacing. I felt that so much time was spent on the first half to 3/4 of the book, that the ending was incredibly rushed and it felt like a bit of an afterthought. Maybe I like to UNDERSTAND the nuances of a book like this too much, but in the end we got a handful of lines that read like exposition and then it was over. That was disappointing.

I also really disliked the constant references to the (i assume) fictional Gallacia and their pronoun system? every time it was brought up it pulled me out of the story and made me realize over and over that i had no true sense of WHO easton was. the use of random pronouns also felt unwieldily.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a fun and creepy read! What Moves the Dead is a retelling of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," expanding upon his story and giving more detail where the short story's plot was vague. I don't think you need to have read the original story to enjoy this one, though it did heighten the suspense for me, as I anxiously awaited the fate I knew would befall our characters. I particularly enjoyed that the novella brought some new, refreshing ideas to the story, while not veering off too far from Poe's work. It's a well-written expansion that I imagine other horror fans will love! I certainly enjoyed it.

The story follows Alex Easton, a retired soldier who receives a letter that their childhood friend, Madeline Usher, is dying. They decide to visit the family estate where Madeline has settled, only to find some bizarre circumstances that only seem to get stranger as their stay goes on. Why are the hares surrounding the property behaving so weirdly? Why is Madeline sleepwalking and speaking differently at night? What exactly is going on with the pulsating lake outside the home? Alex has no choice but to get to the bottom of it, in order to help everyone at the Usher house and maybe even save Alex's own life. Side note: Alex is non-binary with a unique set of pronouns from their home country, but for the sake of this review, it's simpler to use they/them.

I was in a reading slump before starting this story. For the past month or so, nothing has grabbed my attention, but T. Kingfisher seems to have given me a cure! This book is absolutely perfect if you need a short read. Sitting at 176 pages, it strikes a nice balance in length that is long enough for the characters to develop, but short enough to keep the pace quick and tight. It knows exactly what it's going for. There are some scares and (I would say mild to moderate) body horror that both build as the story progresses. It's fairly predictable, but there's something to be said for a horror novella that sets up the plot, sucks you in with its spooky atmosphere, then executes that same plot line seamlessly. Not everything has to have a big, surprising twist at the end. For me, giving me a scary premise and following through with everything can be just as satisfying, particularly if written well.

I enjoyed the characters. They're all fleshed out decently given the length of the novella. Alex is a great protagonist with witty remarks to ease the tension (but not so many that it distracts from the plot). Madeline and Roderick are mysterious, but easy to root for. The American doctor, Denton, is a fun addition to the European setting and brought out some cultural critiques from the rest of the group. The British mycologist and Alex's batman were maybe my favorites. They were so wholesome and sweet. I really appreciated the dialogue and banter all of the characters had with one another.

The writing is also good! Kingfisher does a great job of creating a creepy atmosphere. I loved how she personified the tarn. The horror genre loves a good spooky house, but lakes can be pretty darn scary, too! Kingfisher excels at writing horror with a casual tone. Though the story is set in 1890, it is easy to read and feels modern, without any historical inaccuracies (as far as I noticed). This was my first book by the author, but I will certainly try more in the future. She kept a perfect pace for the length of the book. The writing held my attention and took me on a wonderfully unsettling journey.

I found this to just be a good horror story overall. It was enjoyable and had a few horrifying moments. What pushes me to round the rating up to five stars, though, is the refreshing smaller details the author added. While the horror was good on its own, Kingfisher also brought in a quick discussion of pronouns and gender identity. She didn't ruminate on it too long, but it was neat to read about a culture with seven pronouns and a main character in the late-1800s who identified more as a soldier than with a specific gender. I also liked how the pronouns came back into play later in the story, as well (to me, at least, they didn't feel tossed in just for the sake of it). It gave the story a little extra sparkle and proves that you can still add new ideas into a genre that has centuries of material already written. The author even alludes to this herself in her note at the end. She mentions how she almost stopped writing the story after reading a similar publication, Mexican Gothic, but then thought to herself that, even if the plots were similar, each author could still put a unique spin on their own stories. I love that, and I'm so glad she went through with What Moves the Dead!

I recommend this to anyone looking for a quick horror read. It's a retelling with its own take on the plot. It holds true to the original material, while keeping things fresh and exciting. I imagine anyone who enjoys body horror, scary short stories, or Poe retellings will find this as entertaining as I did! I know I won't be looking at mushrooms or bunnies the same way anytime soon.

4.5 out of 5 stars, but I rounded up because this novella gave me everything I was looking for with a little extra sprinkled on top.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to one of my favorite books of the year and my new favorite horror book!

I loved this. This is a short horror novella that retells The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, where T. Kingfisher breathes new life into and fleshes out this classic short story. The premise is basically the same: our main character goes to the House of Usher because they are asked there by an Usher sibling--one is concerned the other is dying in this version. Every part is fleshed out though, our main character being the first part.

Our main character, Alex Easton, is a nonbinary soldier who uses pronouns that only exist in their fictional language: ka/kan. This use of (neo?)pronouns does actually become a thing later in the book that is actually very cool. It was great seeing this story through Alex's eyes: ka is funny, witty, and down-to-earth, and ka helped sell me on this story early. We meet a collection of other characters: Alex's manservant, a baffled doctor, and a mycologist come to draw the specimens of fungi cropping up all around the house, as well as the ghostly Usher twins. This cast of characters is at once quirky and creepy.

One thing I loved about this novella is that it takes the Gothic atmosphere of Poe's short stories and continues it. The wild landscape, the crumbling house, the ghostly inhabitants, the mysterious sickness, and the visitor on the outside who considers themselves sane but is very soon about to have their wordview shaken... this novella nails all of those tropes. The pacing and turns of a Gothic atmosphere and plot are masterfully executed. In this way, the Gothic is familiar... but it is very much with a modern spin on it. There is science and magic involved here, and creepy fauna and flora and a lake that is just not RIGHT, and I loved every bit of it.

I have long had a soft spot for T. Kingfisher's writing; this year, The Raven and the Reindeer was extremely cute, and I loved the quirky writing style. That is present here, but with a darker tone. The quirk is present in Alex's dialogue, but the descriptions--which include light plant/body horror--were stunning. I have not really related when people have talked about horrific scenes being written beautifully in other books until I read T. Kingfisher's writing in this one. I was hooked from the first fleshy description of a mushroom.

I would recommend this to people who like Gothic horror that revolves around something extremely new. I would also recommend this to people who liked Into the Drowning Deep because this gave me those vibes--and this book unseated that one as my favorite horror.

I’ve always thought The Fall of the House of Usher was a great story that could use a little more meat on its bones, and this book gave me everything I ever wanted, and even a couple things I didn’t know I wanted but definitely needed in my life.

A retelling of "The Fall of the House of Usher" with a nonbinary lead and just so much fungus.

I was about half way through the book when I thought to myself, that's strange, it's a T. Kingfisher horror novel and there hasn't been much in the way of body horror. Then the second half hit me like a sledgehammer. T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors.

I don't always buy the books that I receive digital ARCs for- I just finished this less than 3 minutes ago and I've pre-ordered it. Before I finished, I was thinking this gave me SOOO many Mexican Gothic vibes (read Author's Note- I chuckled to myself) and in some ways the atmosphere was also akin to Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman. I really enjoyed this novella, it was the perfect length to:
-utterly freak me out
-cause me to have nightmares
-have me gagging (I can handle a lot, I have a tough stomach)
-jump myself out of this reading 'tarn' (see what I did there?) I've been submerged in

This re-telling of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher was suffocating. I felt my lungs fill, my heart stop, my hand rush to lift my jaw off the floor...there were so many unique elements and characters throughout that I never wanted to put this one down! You're constantly scratching you're head thinking 'what??!?' and then being thrown backwards when you sink deeper into the story. The atmosphere was dark, damp, cold and haunting- it enhanced every aspect of this novella. I could feel my feet freezing on the bare floor, I could smell the mold and dust in the rooms and see the whisps of white fleetingly through the house.

Do you want to be afraid of hares? Read this novella...I swear I had to hide under the covers at night because of that ONE scene.
The language was perfectly set for the time period it was cast in and the banter between characters was a charming surprise.

I will admit I haven't read The Fall of the House of Usher (or anything by Poe- put your pitchforks down please!!) but I will make it my next read to compare side by side! The Author's Note was perfect and it was enlightening to be able to UNDERSTAND why an author writes the way they do and why they write WHAT they do. I'm a person who asks 'why' something happened or why someone did what they did and could relate to T. Kingfisher in that regard.

Brilliantly and hauntingly eerie, this is a classic re-telling you don't want to miss!

Thanks to Netgalley and TorNightfire for a review copy!
(All thoughts are my own:-))

Let me start this off by saying these are entirely my own opinions, and if you have different ones, that is totally okay. We all have different reading experiences.

I received this a digital ARC, and I have to say, the ending had me on the edge of my seat. Not because of how scary it was but because of the tension. It gave me anxiety and was nerve-wracking.

I give this 4 out of 5 stars simply because it felt slow in the beginning, but it was okay enough to keep going.

If you like Stranger Things with a hint of zombie stuff, I think this book would be the best for you.

4 out of 5 stars.

I was instantly enveloped in the world of "What Moves the Dead," a creepy, moody, gothic tale full of mysterious hares, frightening fungus, and a protagonist so well-written that I would definitely jump on reading a whole series with them at the helm.

This was my first T. Kingfisher book (although I already requested another halfway through this one) and I was very impressed with how three-dimensional the characters felt for such a short book.

My only critique is that I don't really understand why this wasn't a full novel. The author had more than enough story fabric in which to weave a few hundred pages more.

Macmillan-Tor/Forge can we please convince T. Kingfisher to dive into the world of Gallacia and Alex Easton?

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for the ARC.

A retelling of "The Fall of the House of Usher", Kingfisher's latest adds the creepiest of flesh to the bare-bones tale by Poe. It not only made perfect sense within the original narrative, but added a depth of understanding that suddenly made all the pieces fall into place. It worked well with my memories of the original film, as well - I heard echoes of Vincent Price's voice every time Roderick spoke.

Loved it!