'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.'
I've been loving the horror work of T. Kingfisher over the last couple of years, The Twisted Ones had one of my favourite scare moments in books, The Hollow Places was filled with tension and mystery, and Nettle and Bone was a wonderfully dark fantasy tale that bordered on horror. As such, when I found out that there was a new book coming out, and that it was a retelling of an Edgar Allan Poe story I was hugely excited.
What Moves the Dead tells the story of Alex Easton, a non-binary soldier in the Gallacian army, who has travelled to the remote estate of their friends, Madeline Usher, and her brother, Roderick. Alex received a letter telling them that Madeline was close to death, and so set out to see her one last time, and offer support to Roderick. Upon arriving at the House of Usher, however, they're shocked to find that the siblings look thin, their flesh pale and old looking, like they'd both ages decades.
As Alex settles into the house for their stay, they begin to discover strange things going on. The rabbits near the estate all act strangely, watching the people that call it home, and moving in odd ways. Madelin walks the halls of the house at night in a strange trance-like state, muttering strange things. And bizarre mushrooms and fungus are growing everywhere. As the mystery and horror deepens Alex will have to call on help from Miss Potter, a visiting mycologist, Denton, and a doctor friend of the Ushers, to help them stop the horrors that plague the estate.
What Moves the Dead is, much like the story that it is based upon, a Gothic tale. There's a creepy estate, things going bump in the night, and lurking horrors that are barely imaginable. If Gothic is your thing, this book will absolutely scratch that itch, and will probably go into some interesting new places too. Kingfisher uses fungus and mushrooms a lot in this story, and if you know anything bout fungi you'll know that it's a pretty alien, almost frightening thing. Neither plant nor animal, able to infect others and alter their behaviour, able to grow almost anywhere, and in some cases can be some of the largest living organisms on the planet. They're incredibly creepy, and Kingfisher uses that to great effect here.
The story might be bases upon The Fall of the House of Usher but it's nothing as simple as a retelling. Kingfisher gives us a wholly new and unique tale with its own cast of interesting characters. Alex is a prime example of this, as I don't remember the original story giving much non-binary representation. Alex's home nation of Gallacia is an interesting place, and the book goes into detail to explain some of its history and culture, particularly in regards to gender and gender roles. Gallacia has multiple different pronouns, depending on age and role in society, and non-binary identities seem to be perfectly normalised there; even if there are allusions to the fact that that's not so elsewhere in the world. This is a wonderful new addition to the tale, and the inclusion is lovely to see. More books with non-binary characters, where their gender identity isn't the focus or even really brought up, are very much needed.
For those looking for something dark and creepy, What Moves the Dead will absolutely tick those boxes. There's enough mystery and slowly building tension here that you'll soon find yourself wanting to read the entire thing in one go; and with the book being relatively short in comparison to Kingfisher's other work, it is entirely possible to do so.
Kingfisher has once again provided readers with a creepy horror tale that's sure to delight, enthral, and frighten.
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