What Moves the Dead cover art

What Moves the Dead

Sworn Soldier, Book 1

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What Moves the Dead

By: T. Kingfisher
Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
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About this listen

From the Nebula and Hugo 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.

©2022 T. Kingfisher (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd Gothic Horror Scary
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I really enjoyed this book, even though it was creepy and unnerving at times. The characters were compelling and the fungi was both scary and incredible

captivating and creepy

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listened to this in one day. 2nd story by this author I've listened to. great story teller. I liked the weird animal behavior, they were so creepy

creepy and well paced

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Really enjoyed this story - it was so captivating and the writing was excellent. Narrator did a fantastic job too!

Great Mystery and Excellent Writing

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I enjoy the story just not the language style of this book. still worth finishing. prepare to gag

blergh

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A good take on an older book. It could almost be a prequel to The Last of Us.
I like creepy kinda stories like this. I just wanted all of them to get “ infected. “

He’s a Fun-guy

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Kingfisher succeeds in creating a vivid claustrophobic atmosphere in this novella. My skin genuinely shivered and prickled at the descriptions of the horrible fungus.

Brilliantly creepy

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Short and sweet, the characters are great and the performance really bring it to life. Interesting historical themes as well, Galacia was fun flavour. The horror elements are really well done too. Rarely do I feel that the experience of a novel is enhanced by the audiobook form, but here I do.

Great and unsettling

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Not a bad listen, however, having already read Mexican Gothic I found it hard to fall in love with this story, which saddens me because I LOVE Poe and was excited to read this as it’s based on The Fall of the House of Usher.
I appreciate the author’s note acknowledging the likeness to Mexican Gothic and I’d like to think that if I hadn’t read Mexican Gothic first, this book would have rated higher for me.

“We have Mexican Gothic at home”

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A fun short novel, about the Usher's lake, fungi, and a couple of rabbits.

It's all about the fungi

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Old world, new horrors. I'm a longtime fan of T Kingfisher, the male perspective is quaint.
Cosy, chilly, and adorably grotesque.

Such a hideous little niche

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