I am not usually into retellings, but I am very into Poe, so I thought I might like this and I really did! I also often don't like novellas but this was perfect. As an expansion on an already short story the novella was a perfect way to do it, it also made it hard to put down.

I loved the main character Alex, they were immediately likable. I loved the relationship they had with their horse, it reminded me of having conversations with my animals. I loved the interesting take on pronouns as a bit of worldbuilding. The humor throughout the book was so great, some wit and sarcasm mixed in throughout a horror story had me chuckling more than I expected to. The horror was also great, nice and creepy. I love a nature-based horror story and this was a clever take on the original story with just enough interesting science mixed in. It's got some good scary parts, but very in line with the tension of Poe, plus some gore on the side.

I definitely recommend this to fans of Edgar Allan Poe, or horror in general, and fans of Jeff VanderMeer, as well as Silvia Moreno-Garcia- the author references Mexican Gothic at the end in the author's note so definitely don't skip that part.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance e-copy of this book.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.
Actual rating: 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4

What Moves the Dead is a retelling of one of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe works, The Fall of the House of Usher. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from What Moves the Dead, as this was my first time reading both a Poe retelling and anything by T. Kingfisher. At first, I was really perplexed by what the heck I was reading, as What Moves the Dead spends a lot of time dedicated to the history of a fake country and its sworn soldiers, with our narrator counting themselves amongst the number of sworn soldiers, and interspersing it with a strange, meandering sense of humor that feels almost like a stream of consciousness.

“Ah. American. That explained the clothes and the way he stood with his legs wide and his elbows out, as if he had a great deal more space than was actually available. (I am never sure what to think of Americans. Their brashness can be charming, but just when I decide that I rather like them, I meet one that I wish would go back to America, and then perhaps keep going off the far edge, into the sea.”


I was really not a fan of this rambling sense of humor, which felt more like a digression or diatribe, and wished the novel would get on with the good stuff, which is ultimately the truly creepy setting of the Usher house. T. Kingfisher excels at creating a spine-chilling atmosphere, which effortlessly allows me to picture every little terrifying detail that our narrator Alex Easton encounters while visiting his ailing friends, Roderick and Madeline Usher at their ancestral home. I must say that I found T. Kingfisher’s descriptions just as unsettling as Poe’s if not even more so.

"‘This place…’ I gestured vaguely with my free hand, but it was the tarn I was thinking of, the dark water, and the stinking fungus. ‘I think it might be enough to make anyone ill.'”


Though it had been years since I read the original work, I did pick up the short story after T. Kingfisher’s and I must say that I prefer What Moves the Dead. Sacrilege, I know, but the build up of tension and unquiet throughout this novella is simply masterful, and I adore the expounding on the original story. Readers see more than a glimpse of the ailing Madeline Usher, witness Alex Easton speaking at length with the doctor and hearing the local superstitions surrounding the house and the local wildlife. It all paints a very creepy and more realistic picture, which doesn’t hurtle towards an abrupt and somewhat ridiculous ending.

“The dead don’t walk. Except sometimes, when they do.”


What Moves the Dead takes its time, lulling readers into a false sense of security that even though things aren’t quite right, there is no inherent and pressing danger. In fact, I could only wish What Moves the Dead had been a bit longer, with even more build up, as not only am I a glutton for punishment, aka suspense, and thought that it was a little too obvious that Alex’s meeting with the mycologist, Beatrix Potter, was more important than some chance encounter with the wacky neighborhood mushroom lady. Plus, I wanted more time wondering what was going on with the creepy bunnies and how it related to Madeline.

I also was much more invested in the characters and the deadly mystery ensnaring them. Perhaps because The Fall of the House of Usher is so short, and hurtles towards its deadly and inexplicable conclusion, I never quite got too attached to Roderick and Madeline. It was more that I was committed to seeing what horrific fate would inevitably fall onto the characters, rather than the characters themselves. What Moves the Dead by far renders the characters more fleshed out and sympathetic, and in turn, makes me more care more about what is happening to them.

“‘Roderick,’ said Denton, leaning against the stone railing. ‘He complains of nightmares. Says the walls breathe them out.'”


Though I did struggle to get into What Moves the Dead at first, I’m so glad I stuck out my initial reservations about extra pronouns, sworn soldiers, and an entirely fictional country. I am still not the biggest fan of the whole made up pronoun thing, such as “ka” and “kan,” but it does play a bit of a role in the twist at the end, so I suppose I can’t complain too much. With that being said, I do think this twist could’ve been carried out without the whole pronoun thing, which honestly made me zone out quite a bit when reading the original explanations of these pronouns.

But it was interesting seeing a non-binary person as our narrator and how they fit into the time period. The pronouns they used were both gender neutral and indicative of their career as a sworn soldier. It’s always good to see some diversity and glimpses of a more accepting world. But again, I found myself disappointed whenever the novella wasn’t focusing on the mystery and horror of the Usher House.

Though I bordered on inattentiveness during the descriptions of the pronouns and the fictional country, and it took me quite a while to get accustomed to the narrator’s humor, I highly recommend What Moves the Dead to not only fans of Poe, but also to those who simply like horror stories. This would definitely be a great choice for those who loved Mexican Gothic , a work that the author even mentions in the acknowledgements. I could also easily see myself rereading this retelling in future spooky seasons, as it is just such a fun read. I also plan on checking out more of T. Kingfisher’s works in the future.

The story is fine but I’d rather go back to Edgar Allen Poe instead. The core issue I had with this story is that it acted like The Fall of the House of Usher needed a resolution.

For a quick comparison - this feels similar to Star Wars introducing midichlorians. No one really wanted to hear the science behind The Force - it cheapens the magic.

I’ll give credit for the thought experiment - there’s a perplexing section (to me) where Roderick tries to explain why he is ill-fated that this novella picks up on and plays out further. But I still struggle with this one because I feel like it missed what made Poe’s original so good.

To explain this further: Poe’s Romantic (capital R) writing was a reaction against the neoclassic, enlightened style, where stories would contain lectures about morality and lessons learned. Romantic literature was all about depicting the emotion of the moment and the mystery of the sublime, rather than a rationalist approach to break down things to make sense of it.

This is the core of the original story, and in my opinion it’s’ most valuable thing - the mood it imparts on the reader from the outset. As the narrator rides up to the House of Usher, we are hit over the head with the gloomy setting that builds with every sentence. While EAP’s story might contain themes of isolation, guilt and facing the arcane, it’s hard to delve deep and immediately grasp a message. And that’s the point.

The best mysteries are those that do not have an answer. Providing a technical solution for why the House of Usher is so cursed strips away the evocative world EAP created, and yet we are not rewarded for the changes with any deeper impact or lesson here.

This little story is one that I will not soon forget! I devoured it page after page and I am so glad I took a chance on it. The characters and plot are so unexpected that once you start you won't be able to put it down either.

What Moves The Dead is a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher. Set in the year 1890 in a rural English town, the story centers around a former soldier named Alex Easton. Easton who just learned that his childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying immediately goes to the Usher family home. As soon as Alex arrives he notices bizarre fungal growths on the Usher family’s property. Alex then meets an eclectic group of characters: Miss Porter who is a proper British lady that studies fungal growths, Denton an American doctor, and Madeline’s brother Rodrick who is afflicted with a bizarre nervous condition.

At less than 200 pages, What Moves The Dead is more of a novella but the shorter length didn’t deter me from loving this story any less. First off I loved the LGBTQA+ representation in this book and Kingfisher crafted a perfect version of Poe’s original unnamed Soldier in Alex Easton. It’s hard for an author to do a retelling for various reasons, especially on a widely loved tale as The Fall of the House of Usher but T Kingfisher did an amazing job here! Not only did she stay true to Poe’s original masterpiece but she actually enhanced the story.

What Moves The Dead is not only spine-tingling, atmospheric, and full of white-knuckled suspense, but at the heart of the story is mystery surrounded by a dilapidated gothic house.

Without spoiling anything for anyone, I will say that I will forever be scared of mushrooms after reading this one. I am a huge fan of the T Kingfisher’s prior novels The Hollow Places and The Twisted One's but What Moves The Dead solidified my admiration for the author's extraordinary writing.

I highly recommend this book for fans of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and horror readers looking for an entirely unique and perfectly creepy story.

I've long been a fan of Kingfisher's work and was very excited to see a new tale, "What Moves the Dead," from Tor, forthcoming in July 2022. This story starts out in a way that reminded me if Frasier the television show had supernatural or speculative elements, and also called to mind David Hyde Pierce's (uncredited) role as the voice of Abe Sapien in the first Hellboy film. Readers who love a Victorian vibe with lots of discussion of mushrooms and specific kinds of flowers will love this. It reads like a more contemporary Sherlock Holmes mystery with supernatural elements. Fans of Gail Carriger will likely dig this title as well, particularly because of the unique combination of fun humour mingled with the supernatural elements. Jane Austen fans as well as fans of supernatural riffs like Pride Prejudice & Zombies as well as Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter will really dig the energy of this book.

T. Kingfisher is easily becoming one of my favorite authors. She does creepy so well that it just makes sense for her to write a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s classic, The Fall of the House of Usher. This story was fantastic! I love how Kingfisher's retelling of this gothic tale had a lot more explanation. Honestly, I started reading this at night and had to stop because the description of the hares were creeping me out! The only thing I wish she'd done different is make the story longer but this is one fantastic novella!

Expected release date is 7/12/22

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings: fungus, broken necks, gore, death, harm against animals, suicide

This "Fall of the House of Usher" retelling is a study on cleverness. There is so much world-building that, per the author's note, is an homage to Ruritanian romance. This niche is a story mode in which there is a quaint European invented European country with its own cultures (I feel like The Princess Diaries might fall under this node). And it's utterly distracting, adding pages to a work inspired by a short story that's less than 40 pages long.

The non-binary representation bothered me because it is in entirely tied to this fictional construct. Easton could have just been non-binary without the world-building construct. Instead, it makes it seem that non-binary people do not exist in what is otherwise very unironically Victorian England, down to the detail where Miss Potter, aunt of Beatrix Potter (yes, that one), cannot join the mycology society because of her womanhood. An attempt is made, and the execution falters for me.

On a different note, the voice is very similar to that found in Hidden Places and The Hollow Ones, distractingly so. Centuries separate those characters, yet they sound nigh identical. From the mannerisms, to the turns of phrases, to the specific asides, the only way to tell time period are details and the noticeable lack of modern technology.

If you want mycology and haunted house horror, the atmosphere is there and shines in the last two chapters. Otherwise, it's a bit of a slog through extraneity to get there.

An extended reimagining of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which digs further into the mysterious illness at the story’s core and provides more agency and emotion to Madeline. This story features a non-binary narrator who uses neopronouns unique to ka’s culture. This exploration of pronouns as part of one’s culture really drew me deeper into this novella and its expansion of Poe’s original story. Overall, I really enjoyed this novella and felt myself endeared to each character. I would definitely recommend this novella to fans of gothic horror, or any one looking for a short, spooky read.

This short novella was amazing!! I loved every minute of reading it. It pulled me through into a world where fungus makes the dead walk. Seeing a reimagining of one of my all time favorite authors stories had me intrigued and ready to sit down with a cup of coffee and the story. This story is worth all 13 chapters. Alex is a main character that has seen and been through so much yet cares for those he loves and will burn it all down for them. Join Alex in their journey with an eclectic group of men and women who must fight the fungus that makes the dead walk. Thank you to Tornightfire for sending me a digital arc of this story. Release date: 07/12/2022

What Moves the Death

[Blurb goes here]

I truly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Although what should have been a great reveal, ends up being obvious from the start. No matter. The way it's written kept me glued to the pages until the very end.

Now, as I was reading, something kept on nagging at me. Why 'The Fall of the House of Usher'? I did read the author's rationale behind the idea, I still think this book could have been a great story without dragging Mr. Poe's world into it.

Thank you for the free copy!

Alex Easton is a retired soldier for the Galatian army. One day, they receive a letter from their childhood friend, Madeline Usher, informing them that she is gravely ill and might be close to death. After reading the letter, Easton rushes back to the old Usher Manor in the countryside of Ruritania. Upon arrival, Alex finds that Madeline looks far worse than they initially thought she would be. She is found multiple times sleepwalking and talking in strange voices. Easton then realizes it is up to them to try and save Madeline and the walls of the old Usher Manor.

I will start by saying that I never actually read Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, so that might be all my fault. At first, I was a little worried when I started this. The novel did have a very slow start and I almost found myself DNF’ing it. The first 35-40% of the book, I felt, may have been dragged out way more than it should have been. There was a lot of rambling about war, the Galatian language, and other things. Luckily though, I stuck it out and I am really glad I did! The story, though very slow, was beautifully written and Kingfisher did a wonderful job building up beautiful scenery and gave us very haunting descriptions. I also couldn’t get enough of the wonderful Miss. Potter. It also wasn’t until after I finished the book that I realized Easton was non-binary, which I love! I am so glad that Kingfisher incorporated the LQGTQ+ community into this wonderful retelling. Once I learned that, I felt quite awful about not really understanding and being confused by the Galatian language explanation and it all fell into place. All in all, this was a beautiful and haunting read and I look forward to reading more by the author!

Big thanks to NetGalley, T. Kingfisher, and the publishers for allowing me to receive the ARC of this book.

When I was offered an ARC of a T. Kingfisher novel, I absolutely jumped at the chance. The cover, the title, the fact that it's a retelling of an Edgar Allen Poe tale...it had to go right to the top of my TBR list. I couldn't wait to get started.

I am SO GLAD I prioritized this one!

Dark and gloomy and atmospheric, this novel follows Alex, a retired soldier, to visit their friends Madeline and Roderick. Madeline is ill and, judging from her letter, practically on death's doorstep. When Alex arrives at their dilapidated manor they find so much is worse; Madeline is little more than bones, Roderick is paranoid and full of wild fantasies, and there's a strange fungus making the rabbits in the area behave strangely...

This novel gave me something I've never experienced before when, two chapters in, you realize the main character is nonbinary. I was filled with delight at seeing a character like me in a setting that had nothing to do with their gender, solving mysteries and investigating spookiness. The book uses invented pronouns for Alex and eases you into them in a way that seems almost effortless.

Loved this read, which I proved by losing a decent amount of sleep by staying up to read it.

A witty and scary take on Poe's Fall of the House of Usher, although familiarity with that story is not neccesary to appreciate Kingfisher's novel-- mildly gender-bending, and by turns creepy and delightfully droll. The horrible, gloomy, isolated mansion and the seeming madness befalling its owners are the stuff of nightmares. Their friends dismiss and rationalize rather than intervening, conscious of what is proper and refusing to admit to the horror-- and who doesn't bury their head in the sand when a dear friend sleepwalks and speaks of herself in the third person?
Most enjoyable. Highly recommended for public library collections.

Come for the fungal vibes, stay for the rotting manor with too many secrets hidden in its depths.

If you’ve been jonesing for another terrifying fungal story after Mexican Gothic, then this has to be at the top of your list. T. Kingfisher delivers a masterful retelling that delivers on all of the original creep factors before amplifying it to terrible conclusions.

There is a masterful blend of dread and understanding, of the characters knowing they are out of their depth and forcing themselves to continue on anyway. If you enjoy terrible fungi, rotting manors, or macabre retelling, then this novella has GOT to be on your TBR.

Fans of Jane Lawrence and Mexican Gothic will recoil at this retelling of the House of Usher. With a laudable protagonist in Easton, a creepy manor with too many secrets, and a emphasis on fungal ferocities, there is plenty here to love. Even if I will be avoiding mushrooms in my food for the near future.

T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead is a self-indulgent fantasy take on Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” that, in spite of its short length, felt far too long.
I’d never read a T. Kingfisher book before, and since Tor seems to be putting out books by her every month, I decided to try one. In this case, it was a mistake, and I don’t think I’ll pick up another. The story is an adaptation, for lack of a better word, of Poe’s work. It’s definitely got a dark, grotesque aesthetic that some readers will enjoy and that echoes Poe. It’s also got a weirdly comic protagonist; I found the humor grating and trying too hard. Everything about it, from the initial description of the mushrooms, to the identity of the protagonist, to the humor felt self-indulgent. I don’t always mind a self-indulgent book, but in this case, it didn’t work for me.
This is one of those books where I felt like it was published because an editor or a publishing house an agenda; I have no idea who the readers are for this story, so I can’t offer a recommendation.

I don’t think that I’ve ever read anything like this book before, and I loved it. I really enjoyed the descriptions of all the fungi, albeit disturbing. I stayed up all night to finish it because I just had to know how it was going to end.

4/5. Overall I think this was a unique and interesting retelling of Fall of the House of Usher. We get very little explanation in Poe’s original story so this was fun. I liked the clever use of pronouns and the main character is memorable. There are some slight issues with characters who seemingly disappear for chunks of the book. For instance, the servants in the house seem to have no baring on the story and I think they could have been left out altogether. I found myself distracted by thoughts of where the servants were during some of the action. The character Angus seemed to dip in and out of the story which was also distracting.

When the story hits its climax, the horror is stunning. I found it incredibly tense and gothic to the max. The believe the highest praise I can give a horror is that it is memorable, and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting the imagery of the final scenes of this book any time soon.

“The dead don’t walk. Except sometimes, when they do.”

Officer Alex Easton rushes to Ruritania when they learn their childhood friend, Madeline Usher, is dying. Finding the manse surrounded by fungus and a glowing lake, they speculate as to the cause of Maddy and her brother Roderick’s strange behavior. Can Alex, an American doctor, and a mycologist solve the mystery of the House of Usher before it is too late?

No one does creepy horror better than T. Kingfisher, so who better to write a reimagining of Edgar Allen Poe’s classic Gothic tale of The Fall of the House of Usher?!

And…

She nailed it!

Kingfisher is an absolute master. She seamlessly fills in the gaps of information left out of the original tale and inserts a plausible, clever, and original explanation for Poe’s initial plot points.

And the creepy hares? I don’t think that I will be able to think of sweet Thumper 🐇 in the same way!

The addition of a gender bending main character of Alex Easton, as well as a new set of pronouns make this retelling unique and current while keeping within the original setting of 1890.

Do not skip the author’s note if you want to know more about how and why this retelling was born! I’m so glad she decided to complete this novella! I loved it!

I highly recommend this book to readers of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Shirley Jackson, and M.R. Carey.

5/5 stars

Expected publication date 7/12/22

Thank you to Jordan Hanley at MacMillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC of What Moves the Dead in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book in a day. As an adult, I have NEVER been able to focus long enough to read an entire book start to finish, until now.

As someone who is a huge fan of Poe, Mexican Gothic, retellings of classic stories, and the style of gothic horror in general, you'd think I'd be the perfect candidate to be utterly thrilled by this book— and I was!

This story is obviously a retelling of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. We've got Roderick and Madeline Usher, we've got the dilapidated manor, we've got fungus, and we've got mysterious behavior/happenings, all the right ingredients to retell this creepy tale.

I'm the kind of person who finds the most horrific elements of a story are often the small, quiet ones; the ones that grow and grow until they're so big that even though you saw it coming, it's enormity is still distressing. This is the kind of horror Poe was a master at, the kind I grew up reading, the kind that is a slow decent into utter madness.

While Kingfisher doesn't take us on a journey of madness, she does an excellent job of creating that eerie off-putting feeling that slowly brings you to the edge and keeps you there. Her writing style is both plain yet absolutely captivating and she even created new sets of pronouns that are native to our main character's home country! After hearing Kingfisher's name multiple times, I'm glad I finally gave her writing a chance. This is the first book I've ever read by her and I definitely plan on reading more.

If I MUST point out weaknesses, I'd say they are the lack of character development and the ending. The only well fleshed out character is Alex, our main character and sole perspective. (That being said, they're fantastic to read from. I was unsure of the humor at the beginning but once I got accustomed to it I began to enjoy their quips and ridiculous comments/thoughts.) The other characters were given small backgrounds but little to no personality whatsoever. I feel as if I know Alex's horse better than I know some of the other characters. As a result of that, I felt absolutely no emotional connection when something that was probably meant to be sad happened.

As for the ending, it was a bit too finite and happy for my tastes, which is completely subjective. I almost wish it had fallen into the horror cliché of "yay everything's fine! *Time lapse* something weird happens to hint that everything is in fact, not fine or resolved". Maybe happy endings are for some people, just not me!

Overall, I really genuinely liked this book. It was fast-paced, attention grabbing, and got me out of a reading slump. This retelling somehow manages to stay loyal to the original story but also find a path of it's own. It provides creative background to some questions that Poe left unanswered in a way that I found wholly enjoyable.