Synopsis
"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." Via Good Reads
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review
This book was so good! T. Kingfisher melded atmospheric gothic horror and science fiction to create a creepy re-imagining of The Fall of the House of Usher. There was some body horror in this book, but it is not excessive or extreme. The manor was a creepy place and almost seemed to be a character in itself. My favorite scenes in this book involved the crypt.
While I did LOVE this book and absolutely recommend it to lovers of the gothic horror genre, it fell short of being a new favorite. I think that is because while the writing was stunning, I used quite a few sticky tabs marking quotes, the gothic writing was hard for me to focus on at times.
I did not read Edgar Allen Poe’s original work before going into this, but I don’t think it is necessary to enjoy this one.
I recommend this book if
🍂 You love gothic horror
🍂 You enjoy horror science fiction
🍂 You like short books
Comments