Spoiler-Free Review

If you’re looking for a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Fall of the House of Usher, horror with a sprinkling of wit, creepy descriptions, hares behaving incorrectly, and a nonbinary main character, look no further that What Moves the Dead.

What is What Moves the Dead about?

Alex Easton arrives at the House of Usher to visit a pair of sickly friends, only to discover something sinister lurking on the property.

I loved everything about this.

Clocking in at only 158 pages, this quick horror read was expertly done and provided a tight narrative that I enjoyed from beginning to end.

What Moves the Dead follows Alex Easton, a nonbinary Galician Sworn Soldier who is visiting their childhood friends, the Ushers, on the heels of news that Madeline Usher is gravely ill. In the original short story, we know little of the main character except for some oblique references to their gender, so this was definitely the perfect opportunity for a nonbinary narrator. Combined with the Galician historical context, I felt this brought a richness to the story as well as an interesting POV.

This story managed to take the Poe original and add in elements and twists and made it feel fresh. Even having reread The Fall of the House of Usher first to refresh my memory, I still felt as though I couldn’t tell where it would go next. The plot and writing both kept me on the hook.

Plus, the main character’s dry humor really shone throughout. It provided a perfect relief from the tension without undermining the suspense. Whether they were describing the attitude of their horse or lampooning a person’s nationality, no one was safe from their deprecating observations. I giggled every time, perhaps because I was so wound up from the horror elements and anticipation in every scene. Here’s two quotes that really show what I mean:

“Denton was even more American than usual. If his accent got any broader, he was going to start singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and shaking hands with the tablecloth.”

“Frankly, I’d only said it because I thought it was the sort of the thing that might appeal to an Englishwoman, pip-pip, cheerio, God save the Queen, and so forth.”

I had a great time reading this short novella, and I highly recommend it.

Should you read What Moves the Dead?

If you’re a fan of Edgar Allan Poe and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, you should definitely have this one on your reading list.