Have You Read This? What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

 

Horror fans are, of course, familiar with Edgar Allan Poe, whether it’s through his dark and dolorous monologues over birds perching on statues, or detailing the exploits of a razor-wielding orangutan. Poe has lived a brief but tumultuous life, but his fingerprints on the horror genre are everywhere. His influence is such that many modern authors are revisiting his classic tales, not necessarily to rewrite these stories but to tell different ones that happen to take place in the same universe. An example of this play-in-Poe’s-sandbox approach is What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher’s novella that revisits “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

Alex Easton, a retired soldier, has made their way to the infamous House of Usher because their friend Madeline Usher is dying. Not only is brother Roderick a nervous wreck, but there is a strange fungus growing on the grounds and the lake is glowing. With the help of a charming mycologist and a skeptical doctor, Alex will delve into the mystery of what grows beneath the House of Usher, hopefully before it devours them.

T. Kingfisher, author of The Twisted Ones, is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors for delivering folk horror but she also has a particular knack for including humor into her horror. Many have trouble maintaining that balance, the tone constantly oscillating between too funny and too terrifying while ultimately becoming confusing for readers. Kingfisher lets the humor shine through in the dialogue between Alex, a great example of LGBTQ+ representation, interacting with characters like the eccentric mycologist as well as the dialogue between Alex the mentee and Alex’s gruff mentor and friend. Those that have read Poe’s story can guess that the horror ratchets up near the end, and Kingfisher delivers with some body horror that might trigger a fear of mold. Narrator Avi Roque’s portrayal of Alex, through snappy banter and stomach-turning horror, and the relatively short run-time, makes this book a frightfully fun exploration of Poe’s universe.