What Moves the Dead

What Moves the Dead (2022) is a multi-genre novella written by T. Kingfisher, or Ursula Vernon. Vernon assumes the pseudonym of T. Kingfisher to create distance from her other books and to avoid confusion, as she has written and illustrated numerous works for children under her legal name. What Moves the Dead can be classified as a distinct blend of the Gothic, horror, and science fiction genres, and it is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The book retells the original story through a modern lens and features a nonbinary main character named Alex Easton. As Easton attempts to help the Usher family, the narrative explores the relationship between isolation and mental health and posits the possible existence of non-human sentient life. In 2023, Kingfisher received the Locus Award for Best Horror Novel for What Moves the Dead.

This guide is based on the e-book version published by Tom Doherty Associates/Tor Publishing Group in 2022.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide include depictions of death by suicide.

A Note on Pronouns: The protagonist, Alex Easton, is a nonbinary character for whom Kingfisher has created the neopronouns ka/kan. These pronouns are used to indicate military personnel from the fictional country of Gallacia. “Ka” is used as a nominative pronoun, and “kan” functions as either an objective or a possessive pronoun, depending upon the context. These terms are used to refer to Easton throughout the guide in accordance with the source text. Likewise, the guide also incorporates the author’s use of the neopronouns va/van, which are used specifically to refer to children.

Plot Summary

Alex Easton travels to Ruravia to visit kan childhood friend, Madeline Usher, who is severely ill with an unknown condition. On the way, ka meets Eugenia Potter, a mycologist who warns Easton not to touch the mushroom ka is looking at. Miss Potter shows kan why by tapping the mushroom, which then emits a horrible smell. They part, and Easton continues to the house, unsettled by the ominous, rotting structure. Ka also sees a strange hare that stands and stares at kan and kan horse, Hob, as the two pass by.

Easton arrives and is greeted by Madeline’s twin brother, Roderick, who is not expecting kan. The Ushers have another guest, James Denton, an American military doctor who has come to evaluate Madeline. Easton is shocked by Madeline’s condition; she is extremely pale and thin and is covered in fine white hairs. Roderick, who is also thin and has wispy white hair, takes Madeline to her room while Easton and Denton talk. Denton guesses that in a big city, Madeline would be diagnosed with hysteria, and she also has bouts of catalepsy, but he does not know what is causing her illness. He has tried to convince the Ushers to leave the house, but they refuse, arguing that Madeline would not survive the move. When Roderick returns, he, Denton, and Easton, who are all veterans, exchange war stories. Roderick once served under Easton for a time. Denton’s duties mostly consisted of amputating the limbs of injured soldiers, and Easton, who was assigned female at birth, became a sworn soldier in Gallacia, which requires renouncing one’s assigned gender and taking on the pronouns ka/kan. As Roderick walks Easton to kan room, he asks to make sure that Denton has not said anything offensive.

The next day, Easton’s batman (personal servant), Angus, arrives and agrees that the house is ominous. Angus heard in the village that the house is surrounded by witch-hares, and although he plans to fish in the nearby tarn, he refuses to hunt. The day after Angus’s arrival, Easton runs into Miss Potter again while riding Hob, and they talk about the fact that some fungi can live underwater. Easton embarks on a short hunting trip, but instead of shooting wildlife, ka buys a cow from a local farmer. So that Roderick will not view the gift of meat as an act of charity, Easton and Angus make up a story about Easton accidently shooting a cow instead of a deer. That night, Easton hears something in the hall, but when ka opens the door, ka doesn’t find anything.

Easton sees another strange hare the next day. When ka approaches it, the hare awkwardly drags itself away, but it is gone before ka can show Denton and Miss Potter, who are nearby. That evening, Angus describes the fish he caught in the tarn. When he cut the fish open, he found that they were filled with “slimy felt.” That night, Easton again hears something in the hall and rushes out to find Madeline, who appears to be sleepwalking. Ka helps her to bed, then walks to a balcony overlooking the tarn. The tarn pulses with a glowing light that reminds kan of bioluminescent plankton.

On the last semi-normal day in the house, Easton, Denton, and the Ushers sing while Roderick plays the piano. Then, after Madeline goes to bed, Easton, Denton, and Roderick drink a bottle of livrit, a Gallacian alcohol. After they part and retire to bed, Denton comes to see Easton. They walk to the balcony, but the tarn is not glowing, and Denton talks about his recent nightmare about a pile of moving, amputated limbs. Denton also reveals that Madeline almost drowned in the tarn a few months ago. In the early morning, Easton finds Madeline in the hall again, but this time, she struggles to speak. After Madeline flashes an unsettling smile, Easton takes kan hand away and sees that it is covered in white hairs from Madeline’s arm. Ka takes Madeline back to bed and realizes that Madeline’s movements resemble the hare’s strange movement.

When Easton discusses Madeline’s sleepwalking with Roderick, Roderick reveals that Alice, Madeline’s maid, died by suicide three months ago. Easton goes in search of more information, first checking the library to see if ka can find any information about hares; however, the books have been ruined by the rotting conditions in the house. Then, Easton checks with Denton, who agrees to examine a hare if Easton can obtain one. Easton manages to shoot a sick hare the next day, but when ka tries to retrieve it, it moves, so ka throws it. The hare, which was shot in the head, crawls, then sits up and stares at Easton, prompting kan to run away.

In the morning, Easton wakes to Roderick playing piano, and he says that Madeline died in the night. Easton asks Roderick and Denton to take kan to the crypt to see the body. The next night, Easton visits the crypt alone, and when ka lifts Madeline’s shroud, ka sees that her neck has been broken.

Roderick is exceptionally jumpy, and Easton wonders if he killed Madeline and if Denton is covering for him. Easton finds Miss Potter again and learns that fungal infections in humans are common, and some are deadly. Ka brings Miss Potter to the Usher house to examine the white hairs on Madeline, but Madeline’s body is missing from the crypt. However, her shroud is on the floor, and Miss Potter is able to confirm that the white hairs on the shroud are hyphae, the threads that make up the mycelium of a fungus.

Near the tarn, Angus spots a dead hare, and Easton brings it to Denton, who performs an autopsy as Easton, Angus, and Miss Potter watch. They discover that the hare is filled with fungus. The hare begins to crawl, and Easton chops off its head; however, the head continues to move, dragging itself forward with its teeth. They burn the body, and when it gets dark, they see that the tarn is glowing and a hare is watching them.

Easton sends Miss Potter away with Angus and Hob. As Easton and Denton talk, Denton admits that Roderick killed Madeline. Denton helped to cover up the murder because he does not expect Roderick to live much longer. Under the assumption that Madeline’s body could not go far, they two return to the crypt to find it. They find footprints leading into the recesses of the crypt and back out again, and they realize that she has gone for Roderick.

They find Madeline sitting on Roderick’s bed. Roderick is asleep but otherwise well enough. Easton talks with Madeline and learns that she has been dead for over a month. Ka learns that Alice was also infected with the fungus, and that Madeline now wants Easton to be the next host for the fungus. Easton refuses, and Denton gets Roderick into the hall. They lock Madeline in Roderick’s bedroom, then leave the house, but Roderick soon returns to the house to burn it down with Madeline and himself inside while Easton and Denton stand sentry. A couple days later, Angus and Miss Potter return with a large load of sulfur and use it to kill the fungus in the tarn. Aaron, one of the Usher servants, agrees to watch the tarn and to shoot and burn any animals that approach it.