By Kaelin Navarro
Hello, everyone! My name is Kaelin and I’m very happy to introduce myself as the second columnist of the Reading Raft. I’ll be working alongside Eli to share my reviews and what I’ve been reading. My taste ranges from manga to the occasional horror-thriller.
As a fall enthusiast, I must start off this October with a gothic horror novel, which is why I looked toward the queen of dark fantasy and horror, T Kingfisher. With so many options to choose from, I decided on “What Moves the Dead.”
“What Moves the Dead” is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Written in 1839, the story follows an unnamed narrator visiting an old friend in his decaying mansion. So you can expect plenty of gothic elements in this story already.
“What Moves the Dead” tells the story of Alex Easton, a former soldier and gender nonconforming protagonist traveling to visit childhood friends. Easton arrives to find siblings Madeline and Roderick Usher severely ill while living in their decrepit mansion inherited by their family.
Through Easton’s journey you meet an old Englishwoman trying to make her way in the Royal Mycology Society studying mushrooms and an American doctor trying to solve the mystery of Madeline’s illness.
What really stood out to me were the vivid descriptions of the setting and the house itself. The forest is littered with hares that stand on their hind legs unblinking and a lake that glows green during the night. You can feel the bone-chilling draft, the creaking floorboards, and the mold spores that plague the mansion’s air.
Maddy is getting frailer and looking more undead by the day. She’s found sleepwalking the halls at night in a ghost-like manner which prompts Easton to unravel the mystery before it’s too late.
As a sucker for horror, this book checked off every box when you think of a classic gothic story. A stand-out for me was the subtle comedy element that made this book an even more pleasant read. Easton talks to Hob, a horse companion in the story, like a person which heightens the humor. Each is only about a sentence long, but were memorable just the same.
“‘This is all a mess, boy,’ I told Hob. His ears indicated that he agreed, particularly since he was not being given a treat.”
One small nitpick I have with the novel is that as much as we got haunting descriptions of the setting, not much was spent on the mold spores and fungus in the novel. Fungus is a major component of the story and I feel that it should have made a bigger appearance.
I’d recommend this book to you if you have extra time on your hands and want something you can finish in one sitting. If you also like gothic horror films like “Crimson Peak,” this book is something you should definitely pick up this fall season. If you are more of an in-your-face scary type of person and want more horror-slasher vibes, this book is probably not for you.
All in all, I give this book a 4.3 out of 5 stars for its excellent take on a classic gothic tale and for giving me nightmares about hares.