What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier, 1)

An Instant USA Today & Indie BestsellerA Barnes & Noble Book of the Year FinalistA Goodreads Best Horror Choice Award NomineeA gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” from Hugo, Locus, & Nebula award-winning author T. KingfisherWhen 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.

The New York Times

"While the events of the book are strange and sinister, the style and characters are warm and wry. . . . The scares are effective, but you know you’re in safe hands.”

Caitlin Starling, USA Today bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence

“A grotesque romp! It takes up residence beneath your skin and refuses to leave."

Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows

“Creepy, claustrophobic, and completely entertaining, What Moves the Dead left me delightfully repulsed. I adored this book!”

Buzzfeed

“This gothic retelling is a hair-raising, enthralling read.”

Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters

"The distilled terror of T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead insinuates itself into the reader's nervous system from the very first sentence and quickly overtakes their sense of self control. I was powerless against this novella's pestilential pull and had to finish it in one sitting . . . or maybe it finished me."

Publishers Weekly

"Thoroughly creepy and utterly enjoyable."

Brom, author of Slewfoot

“T. Kingfisher spins biting wit, charm and terror into a tale that will make your skin crawl. Poe would be proud!”

Andy Davidson, author of The Boatman's Daughter

“Dissects the heart of Poe’s most famous tale and finds a wholly new mythology beating inside it . . . Pure fun.”

Booklist

"An infectious new spin on classic Gothic horror.”

Jordan Shiveley, author of Hot Singles In Your Area

“What Moves the Dead is a must-read, period.”

Lucy A. Snyder, author of Sister, Maiden, Monster

“A gothic delight!"

Brian Evenson, author of Last Days

“A fluid technicolor reimagining of Poe's "House of Usher" that takes no prisoners . . . Not to be missed."

Premee Mohamed, author of Beneath the Rising

"Perfectly hair-raising in all the right ways."

Library Journal

"Readers will be rapt as the tension builds to near bursting levels and the true meaning of the title comes into full, skin-crawling view.”

About the Author

T. KINGFISHER (she/her)writes fantasy, horror, and occasional oddities, including Nettle & Bone, What Moves the Dead, Thornhedge, A House with Good Bones, and A Sorceress Comes to Call. Under a pen name, she also writes bestselling children's books. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, dogs, and chickens who may or may not be possessed.

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