What Moves the Dead

Jessica reviewed What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

None

3 stars

Entertaining, but thoroughly predictable. I definitely liked the ternary gender system.

Jaelyn reviewed What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Review of 'What Moves the Dead' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

This is a novella based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. In the 1890s; Easton, a former soldier of the Gallacia, visits kan old friend Madeline Usher at her family’s ancestral seat on the news that she may be dying. The house is decaying and covered in fungus; only a few servants remain (Madeline’s maid jumped from the roof a few months prior) while her nervous wreck of a brother has only an American doctor to rely on who is baffled by Madeline’s ailment. As Easton attempts to help the family, ka uncovers a mystery around the glowing lake and unsettling wildlife that just won't die.

If you’re up for some gothic horror, mycelial zombie hares, a soldier whose gender/pronouns are simply “soldier”, and regular English jibes at Americans then this is worth picking up. I enjoyed the characters a lot, especially Easton and the …

This is a novella based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. In the 1890s; Easton, a former soldier of the Gallacia, visits kan old friend Madeline Usher at her family’s ancestral seat on the news that she may be dying. The house is decaying and covered in fungus; only a few servants remain (Madeline’s maid jumped from the roof a few months prior) while her nervous wreck of a brother has only an American doctor to rely on who is baffled by Madeline’s ailment. As Easton attempts to help the family, ka uncovers a mystery around the glowing lake and unsettling wildlife that just won't die.

If you’re up for some gothic horror, mycelial zombie hares, a soldier whose gender/pronouns are simply “soldier”, and regular English jibes at Americans then this is worth picking up. I enjoyed the characters a lot, especially Easton and the English lady providing the mushroom nerdery, and I’m always here for fungal horror vibes. It gives it a blend of old and modern horror.

Mysteriarch reviewed What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Great retelling

4 stars

Great retelling of the classic Poe story, with some actual horrific moments. While some elements were pretty obvious, it was still gripping and Kingfisher managed to keep it not too long, while also extending the original store which was actually too short!

Meadhbh Dhommnail reviewed What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Atmospheric and Terrifying

5 stars

Without being too spoilery, I never, when I started reading this book, thought I would finish it feeling pity for a fungus, but here we are.

I love Poe, and Usher is one of my favorite stories of his, and this retelling is absolutely masterful. The descriptions of the grounds and house are atmospheric and almost dripping with dread, which fills every page from page one and grows slowly, but incessantly, until you reach the end.

Julie reviewed What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Creepy Version

No rating

Creepier version of Edgar Allan Poe's story of The Fall of the House of Usher.

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