What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (Review)

Title: What Moves the Dead
Author: T. Kingfisher
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Gothic, Horror
Publisher: Tor.com
Hardcover published: March 22, 2022
Paperback release: March 14, 2023

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Tor.com in exchange for an honest review.

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 Ruritania.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

⤖ My Review ⬻

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” with an added layer of horror that I definitely found to be satisfying. As a fan of Poe, I was excited to read this book! Before I continue, this was also my first Kingfisher book, and I was excited!

One of the things I appreciated about this book was T. Kingfisher’s writing and storytelling voice. The prose was well-crafted and drew me into the story. Additionally, the characters were well-developed and felt like real people.

I started watching The Last of Us a few days before picking up What Moves the Dead, was was really hoping based on the cover that there would be fungal horror (as much as it creeps me out). I won’t say whether it did, but what I can say is that it definitely creeped me out, which—for those of you who aren’t too familiar with me yet—was definitely a win.

Overall, What Moves the Dead was an enjoyable read and a great introduction to T. Kingfisher’s work. And what could be more indicative of this than the fact that I picked up my next Kingfisher read, Nettle & Bone right afterward? Stay tuned for that review and many other Kingfisher book reviews, as I definitely plan to read more from her.

⤖ About the Author ⬻

T. Kingfisher is the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon. In another life, she writes children’s books and weird comics, and has won the Hugo, Sequoyah, and Ursa Major awards, as well as a half-dozen Junior Library Guild selections. This is the name she uses when writing things for grown-ups. When she is not writing, she is probably out in the garden, trying to make eye contact with butterflies.