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What Moves the Dead

T. Kingfisher

Ages 14+

Readers rate it 3.8 (768 on Hardcover)

Released Jul 12, 2022

Content report card

What Moves the Dead parent’s guide: what’s inside

Medium confidence

Violence

Sexual content

Substance use

What it offers

Educational value

A note for parents

This is a gothic horror retelling of Poe's classic that emphasizes atmosphere and dread over graphic violence. While the horror elements are substantial—fungal infections, body horror, possession-like symptoms, and a pervasive sense of wrongness—they are creepy rather than explicitly gory. The protagonist is a competent, loyal soldier who models courage and friendship, and the narrative rewards persistence and empathy despite dark circumstances. Best suited for teens comfortable with literary horror and psychological unease.

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From the publisher

"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 ances... "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"--

Shelved under

  • Fiction
  • Weak Character Development
  • Loveable Characters
  • Diverse Characters
  • Plot driven
  • A mix driven
  • Unloveable Characters
  • Not Diverse Characters
  • Strong Character Development
  • Character driven
  • the horse lives
  • dark

Books in the Sworn Soldier series

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ISBN 9781250830753 · Tor Nightfire

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