What Moves the Dead
Ratings340
Average rating3.8
Read the first few chapters and had to drop it, there is just something really off-putting about the writing style. The protagonist goes on these long-winded asides in parentheses ever other page that took me out of the book, as it felt they were addressing the reader directly. The writing felt really amateur, will probably check out the original story.
I read this in one sitting. Happy Halloween!
Merged review:
I read this in one sitting. Happy Halloween!
Fun concept, elementary writing, cliched characters, few unexpected turns.
Merged review:
Fun concept, elementary writing, cliched characters, few unexpected turns.
The cover art and concepts were beautiful and compelling. The rest..
Merged review:
The cover art and concepts were beautiful and compelling. The rest..
Contains spoilers
This was originally going to be a quick read for me, but I proceeded to forget it at a relative’s house for a while so I hadn’t been able to finish it until now. Anyway, this was a pretty interesting book. It was pretty weird that the fungus had grown sentient, but I feel like that really added to the horror!
This was a delicious creepy retelling of Poe's original work. I admit it has been a bit since I've read the original short story but I will remedy that soon.
The creeping dread of this infected household both mentally and physically. Then to help matters out is Alex Easton. This character was rightly worried about what was happening within the house and to the Ushers. SpoilerI loved it when it was discovered it was a fungus similar to cordyceps which makes zombie ants. Instead, this unnamed fungus made animals then people act against their will. It reminded me just a little of the fungus in The Girl With All the Gifts, but less brain eating zombies. Madeline's last speech was disturbing in the most delicious way.
Great story I'd recommend it to anyone
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This was an excellent story that involved something I didn't think I would find interesting and scary. It has the perfect creepiness as well that just gets you hooked. And it's based off of Edgar Allen Poe, what more could you want?!
5 ⭐️s
I thoroughly enjoyed this retelling of Poe’s work. I tend to love the premise of gothic stories but end up let down by the end. This one wasn’t like that. I enjoyed the characters, especially their banter. Kingfisher does a wonderful job of creating a foreboding, damp, claustrophobic atmosphere that clings to the reader throughout.
This book was a great read that I didn’t want to put down, the main character was interesting funny even throughout the more serious tone of the book. I enjoyed the other all creepy vibe of the book and felt the suspense climb. However, there is something I can’t quite put my finger on which leads me to give it a 4 over a 5, something is missing though I am not exactly sure what it is was, just felt me feeling like there was something lacking. All round though I do suggest this book to anyone who loves more subtle and slow horror.
Note to self: if a book has a ton of hype, please look up how many GR top reviews are 5-star and paid.
This book sincerely sucked. Bad. My 2-star review is super generous.
- was it original? No. It was a retelling of Poe that did absolutely nothing to add to the original. However, it did take away immensely.
- world building? There was a weird attempt to invent a fictional country and language... Unnecessarily boring and ended up going nowhere.
- humor? Fell flat in all attempts
- suspense? None at all
- atmosphere? Absolutely none
- characters? Couldn't care less about a single one
- horror? Still a no
There were glimpses of the author being an ok writer as far as dialogue and lexicon, but overall this book frickin sucks and y'all that gave it rave reviews should be ashamed of yourselves.
Very creepy, very enjoyable. It was light outside when I read this but reading it after dusk would probably make it even creepier
This was so much fun. My husband and I read it (aloud) together and we enjoyed every page. Creepy, murky, funny, and emotional. Such a great retelling of Poe's classic...which, I will admit, is foggy in my memory, but still present. I need to reread it.
took me me a bit to get into it but after chapter 5 i was so captivated i read it all in one seating! need more horror books that have the wit and lovingly crafted characters this book has!! miss potter i love you sm
I've never read the original House of Usher story, and had no idea going into this book that it was something of a retelling. I'm not sure if that paints my opinion of this book any differently, other than the fact that as the characters revealed their names to be Usher I had an inkling that there was some homage going on. To be completely honest, what was happening throughout the book felt painfully obvious, especially from seeing the book's cover and reading just into the intro chapter. Still, I enjoyed the journey the main character took me on and how I was following their thoughts. The pacing felt great and I loved the inner monologue as I was strung along–This is both a praise and an unfortunate feature as I feel I would've loved the book more had there truly been something hair-raising on the other side of the end reveal. Still, the reveal at the end of the book was sufficient enough so I'm not going to mar the book for that. My one and only confusion was actually about the land Galatia that the main character hails from, and their very overt disdain for America. While I enjoyed these flavors and was actually curious to know more about Galatia especially, I felt wholly confused by these inclusion only because I thought they were leading to something. I'm not going to get hung up on things which amount to character quirks and worldbuilding, I just got an impression due to their prominence that they were going to amount to something significant. This small note aside, I would gladly recommend this to anyone who wants to read something haunting yet familiar.
Honestly, I dreaded picking this book to read. I did not have a good time at all.
Crippling, gothic and interesting. Found it fascinating and the tension was perfect, slowly figuring it out and never feeling like it treated you like a dumb reader. Loved the characters and the level of creepiness.
I loved this retelling of Poe's short story!! First of all, I really enjoy Poe's short stories and I genuinely loved the characters, their interaction and the story in this book!! And as someone who doesn't read horror because it's too scary, this is just the perfect amount: enough to terrify me but also not too much to make me want to close the book and hope I don't get nightmares. I also loved the focus on fungi!! I'd like to know more about them now but at the same time I don't lol
3.5 stars. A retelling of Poe's Fall of the House of Usher. Fairly predictable, probably even more-so to people who've read the original story, but fun! I enjoyed it :)