A review by gabberjaws
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

There's a throwaway line about 53% of the way into the book that let me exactly what was going on here, and I'd like to thank David Attenborough and my love for nature documentaries for giving me that little revelation. Actually, I don't know if Mr. Attenborough was even the host of that doc, but I'm gonna thank him anyway because I love that old guy.

I digress.

Much like T. Kingfisher herself, I too read The Fall of the House of Usher when I was a kid, and therefore do not remember much of it. I do remember the basic plot and based on my admittedly foggy memory of it, I think Kingfisher struck very close to the source material in terms of structure.
Narrator travels to Usher Manor because friend's sister is dying. Sister dies. Sister comes back to life all stronk as fuck. Narrator and dead woman's brother destroy the manor and flee. You get the gist.
Where Kingfisher deviates from the original Poe tale is in the layers.

And my god, what delicious layers they were. This short little tale is filled to the brim with Kingfisher's signature humor - which felt comforting, but never managed to distract you from how fucking weird everything was. And, as I might have mentioned in previous reviews, Kingfisher does weird so well. Everything was creepy, and odd, and more than a little fucked up, and as comforting as Easton and kan wisecracking was, the weird never went away.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, and Kingfisher brought so much depth to the story with her additions. The characters - Easton, Ms Potter and Angus, in particular - were charming, as usual. The horror was weird and wacky and unsettling, and made this feel like a wholly original piece of work, despite me knowing that this was a retelling. If you like weird, creepy little horrors and spooky retellings, you'll love this.

PS:
I spent almost the entire book thinking to myself that T.Kingfisher would adore Mexican Gothic, and I was super pleased to discover in her author's note that, not only had she read and loved it, but MG had inspired the horror element in this! What fun.
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