What Moves the Dead Audiobook By T. Kingfisher cover art

What Moves the Dead

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What Moves the Dead

By: T. Kingfisher
Narrated by: Avi Roque
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"The audiobook narrated by Avi Roque is delightful." - Buzzfeed

"Narrator Avi Roque delivers a perfectly paced performance in this concise audiobook...holding listeners hostage until the house reveals its terrifying secrets." -AudioFile Magazine

From T. Kingfisher, the award-winning author of The Twisted Ones, comes What Moves the Dead, a gripping and atmospheric retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher."

When 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.

©2022 T. Kingfisher (P)2022 Macmillan Audio Fantasy Gothic Horror Scary

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Editorial Review

How stories sustain the living dead
I’ve been asking: Do I love the gothic because I love audiobooks, or do I love audiobooks because I love gothic literature? This genre demands to be heard, as its booming claps of thunder and haunting organs creep from its pages to prey upon the darkest corners of our imaginations. So, when I learned that T. Kingfisher, author of such atmospheric works as The Hollow Places and The Twisted Ones, had plans to resurrect The Fall of the House of Usher in all its chilling glory, I knew I had to listen. This title adds unsettling depth to the ruins of Edgar Allan Poe’s original manor, reminding us in the process that so long as we keep their stories alive, the dead never have to die. — Haley H.

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The story is a interesting and well written and I have no complaints about it,except that it's a little predictable. The narration however ruined my enjoyment of it and if it had been a longer book I wouldn't have finished it. It starts out okay, but after a while I started noticing that the narrator kept putting the emphasis on the wrong words. Not just occasionally, but almost every sentence. It's as if they are reading the book for the very first time and have no idea what's going on, sentence to sentence. Towards the end I couldn't concentrate on the story at all and just kept trying to figure out where the emphasis should be and what the meaning of each line actually was, rather than what the narrator made it seem to be.

A good story ruined by a bad narration.

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A scientific approach to a supernatural classic.
It left me satisfied with shivers down my spine.

A fulfilling twist on a classic tale

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Original in every way. Great narrator. I found myself sitting in my car after I arrived at the store just so I could keep listening instead of running errands. I loved it.

Superb Horror Fairytale!!!

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Pardon me while I go boil my skin. Can't tell if I love it or want to burn my phone. Both?

Ew

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Actually, a robot would have more inflection and definitely would have had distinguishable accents. The story would have been so much better had it been told with some feeling.

Read by a robot.

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A retelling or not, this author knows how to write. With delicious and truely unsettling prose, Kingfisher crafts an uneasy atmosphere that leaves the reader perpetually unsettled while geniune and humorous characters propell the story forward with their own unique reasons for being drawn to the forsaken scenery upon which the story unfolds. The genderqueer aspect is tied to the historical and cultural significance of the fictional country the main character is from and lends itself to a unique style of worldbuilding that gives the main character a lived depth and sense of place that makes the unsettling story feel that much more tangible and real. I was hooked from the unique introduction alone, but after listening to the stellar voice cast who read this book (and added their own charm to the telling), I've already purchased Clockwork Boys to see if this author's style is as consistent and entertaining as it was here. Its a short read or listen, depending on your preferred medium, and definitly worth it if you enjoy creepy stories with well paced humorous elements.

Might have a new favorite author

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A little slow to start but stick with it because it is so worth it!! Such a gross and unsettling book. I loved it so much.

So good!

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A little slow in it's initial build up but the pace eventually picks up and once you're in it's grip, there's no escape.

An outstanding horror short story!

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The narrator. Could be much better. I endured because of the story and the fact that it is a short book

Story good. Love the author

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Great retelling of the fall of the house of Usher. I thought I knew how it was going to go but the story suprised me. Great vibes throughout, very unsettling. Well narrated, gave the characters personality.

Loved the vibes

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