Notes from the Shelf

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What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher is a 165-page gothic horror retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruravia. Upon arrival, they find fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices, and her brother Roderick is a ball of nerves. Aided by a British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

I thought it was interesting to be placed in a fake country and also found it interesting that there was a whole other set of pronouns in their language. I am a language and linguist fanatic, so I thought it was cool to learn, but I could see it being a little confusing for others. It wasn’t strictly necessary for the plotline either, but I enjoyed it.

I was a little confused what year it was set in until it’s discussed later. I was still trying to place it in the real world even though it was in a fake country, so maybe I spent a little too much time fixating on that. When I had first picked up the book, I thought it would be a modern retelling, so I was surprised it was set in 1890. I was also trying to place what war it would be since the war was brought up quite a bit with Alex being a retired soldier.

I thought it was sufficiently creepy, in line with the original. It was very creepy to include all of the rabbits. I’m not sure why rabbits can come off as so horrifying in stories, but it is very effective. I liked that there was a solid reason for what was going on in the house because the original doesn’t, and I thought the use of fungi as an antagonist was very interesting. I think this is the perfect book to read for Halloween.

I give What Moves the Dead 5 stars.

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