One of T. Kingfisher’s “scarier” Gothic horror stories (a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of User) is not too scary — even for my delicate nerves — but unfortunately I didn’t find it very engaging or compelling either. I had not expected to read another T. Kingfisher story so soon, but Libby had other ideas (I tried to push back my hold three times, but it seemed ominous that it came back so I decided that I should read it now). 

Coming off of A House with Good Bones (also by T. Kingfisher), this was a very different story, but with one prominent common trait: the very slow build. Perhaps hindered by the original source material, this one didn’t have sufficient payoff to reward the wait. I know Gothic stories often function largely on atmosphere as well, but there are reasons why that didn’t work either.

What Moves the Dead is narrated by Alex Easton, a retired soldier from Gallacia, who visits a childhood friend, Madeline, who is ill. Madeline Usher and her brother Roderick live in their decrepit old family mansion. When Easton arrives, they find a depressing and creepy scene of decay. Most of the story involves weird things happening, including the odd and bizarre behaviour of the nearby hares (not rabbits), and a gross and icky lake. Mushrooms and their ilk also play a part in the horror (so that’s actually kind of en vogue these days, right?).

The writing of the story was not bad, enjoyably atmospheric, with a period-appropriate Victorian tone. However, the sense of dread and tension was severely lacking, so the broody atmosphere was not enough to carry my attention. There were not enough scary or dreadful things happening in the story, and Easton’s perspective was always too stolid to be afraid or panicked (at most they might describe their feelings of fear rather than express them). 

Also, the audiobook narrator did not help. They had a very stilted, over-enunciating way of speaking the narration text, and character voices were also not very good. Accents were not very natural, and expressions were a bit flat. Sadly, the narration really detracted from my immersion in the story. I had almost the same exact experience with the audiobook for Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, which coincidentally had a very similar plot as well.

I know this book is quite well-praised, and is part of a series (maybe trilogy, maybe more) that presumably follows more adventures of Alex Easton (they are the “sworn soldier” that the series is named for), but I don’t know that I’ll continue reading on after this one. Maybe if I’m convinced that the sequels are much better. Coming off the other T.Kingfisher books that I’ve read so far (a few that I’ve loved), I’m pretty disappointed in this one. Perhaps I just don’t connect with T. Kingfisher’s horror writing and I should stick to the fantasy. She has so many other books that I think there’s still a lot of opportunity for me to find good ones among them, but sadly this was not one.

2.5 stars

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