What Moves the Dead

by T. Kingfisher

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Let this cover of What Moves the Dead explode your eyes and brains. And to assure you, the read lives up to the cover. We guarantee a one-sitting read that will make you back slowly away from fast approaching hares. Be careful not to tumble as the descent is fast, deep and scary.

From T. Kingfisher, the award-winning author of The Twisted Ones, comes What Moves the Dead, a gripping and atmospheric retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher."

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250830753
Publisher:	Tom Doherty Associates
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	12,724
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

T. KINGFISHER writes fantasy, horror, and occasional oddities, including The Twisted Ones and Swordheart. Under a pen name, she also writes bestselling children's books. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, dogs, and chickens who may or may not be possessed.

Editorial Reviews

01/17/2022

Hugo and Nebula Award winner Kingfisher (The Hollow Places) returns to the horror genre with this powerful, fast-paced retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” As a child, Alex Easton, who uses the pronouns ka and kan, befriended twins Roderick and Madeline Usher and went on to serve with Roderick in the recent war. Now Madeline writes to tell Alex that she’s ill and Roderick believes she is dying, and Alex must come at once to their family home in remote Ruravia. There, Alex finds a moldering mansion full of fungal rot and strangeness and two Ushers who are terribly, irreversibly changed. Alex must unravel the dark secret that is consuming the house of Usher—before it consumes Alex as well. Kingfisher adds wonderful dimension and tangibility to the classic Poe story, filling it in with standout character work and scenic descriptions that linger on the palate, while fleshing out the original plot with elements as plausible as they are chilling. It’s thoroughly creepy and utterly enjoyable. (Jul.)

Publishers Weekly

“A grotesque romp! It takes up residence beneath your skin and refuses to leave." – Caitlin Starling, USA Today bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence

"Thoroughly creepy and utterly enjoyable." -- Publishers Weekly

“Creepy, claustrophobic, and completely entertaining, What Moves the Dead left me delightfully repulsed. I adored this book!”—Erin A. Craig, NYT bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows

“T. Kingfisher spins biting wit, charm and terror into a tale that will make your skin crawl. Poe would be proud!”—Brom, author of Slewfoot

“Dissects the heart of Poe’s most famous tale and finds a wholly new mythology beating inside it. …Pure fun.”—Andy Davidson, author of The Boatman's Daughter

“What Moves the Dead is a must-read, period.”—Jordan Shiveley, author of Hot Singles In Your Area

“A gothic delight!"—Lucy A. Snyder, author of Sister, Maiden, Monster

“A fluid technicolor reimagining of Poe's "House of Usher" that takes no prisoners…Not to be missed." – Brian Evenson, author of Last Days

"Perfectly hair-raising in all the right ways." -- Premee Mohamed, author of Beneath the Rising

From the Publisher

02/01/2022

When retired soldier Alex Easton learns their childhood friend Madeleine Usher is dying, they rush to the ancestral Usher home in Ruritania. There they encounter weird fungus, possessed wildlife, a sleepwalking Madeleine, and her nerve-wrecked brother. Working out what has happened requires the help of a British mycologist and an American doctor. A reimaging of Poe's classic; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal