selenicseas

Title: What Moves the Dead
Author: T. Kingfisher
Genre: horror

[Posting a lil early as I'll be out of town, hope that's okay!]

I'd been wanting to read What Moves the Dead for some time, having heard 1) that it was a retelling of Fall of the House of Usher and 2) it had a nonbinary protag, but kept backburnering it. Then my book club ended up reading Poe's House of Usher this month and I followed that up with watching The Bloodhound, a modern adaptation of the short story (it's REALLY BAD, would not recommend), so I decided this would be the month to (finally!) read it. It also shoehorns nicely with the horror theme I'd been going for with my reviews for this event :)

What Moves is indeed a retelling of Usher, but in the place of Poe's nameless narrator is veteran soldier Alex Easton, a character entirely of Kingfisher's creation, who comes hand-in-hand with a fictional European country and language to round out their background. Easton journeys to the Usher estate upon hearing that their childhood friend Madeline is gravely ill, only to encounter a house oppressive in its decay, with grounds populated by disturbingly strange wildlife. Easton finds that it's not just Madeline who has fallen ill; her brother Roderick too suffers from what seems some unknown malady that fills him with a debilitating fear.

Kingfisher sticks fairly close to the original story, but puts her own disquieting spin on the events which nonetheless manage to feel very much within the spirit of the original. Having reread the original recently I was struck with how much time Poe spends just describing the house and the tarn; building up the atmosphere. I very much appreciated Kingfisher playing to this (every mention of the tarn right there at the start had me cheering like a sportsball fan) and building off of it. I personally caught on to where Kingfisher was going very early, but as it was right up my alley, I had an absolute blast reading anyway.

(Also, side note to say that this book is aesthetically VERY NICE. The cover rocks, the end paper illustrations are gorgeous (and spooky!), and even the house detail beneath the dust jacket is a real nice touch. A++ on book design alone.)

What Moves is a quick read, easily managed in one sitting, that expands on the source material without being a simple retread. I also really enjoyed all the characters, even Madeline and Roderick (and the gross old house and the grosser tarn). Easton makes for a great protagonist, and the country of Gallacia is also fairly interesting, especially as its culture and language are described in contrast with the rest of Europe/America—-I also just personally enjoyed that this was not a modern retelling, that Kingfisher works Gallacia into the broader history and time period of the original House of Usher.

What Moves maintains a nicely creepy atmosphere throughout, and while I wouldn't consider it outright scary, it's a fun read, especially if you're looking for a quick, not-too-spooky book to finish off spooky month.