What Moves the Dead

As a work of Gothic fiction, What Moves the Dead remains highly dependent upon strategic descriptions of the setting. Details that appear early in the text set the tone and emphasize the Gothic elements of the story. For example, Easton describes the inside of the house in highly visceral and gruesome terms that implicitly equate the edifice to a moldering corpse. As Easton observes, “[The] wallpaper had peeled back from the walls, hanging in rags, leaving the exposed flesh of the building behind it” (30). T. Kingfisher’s provocative diction is designed to personify the house itself in a distinctly unflattering fashion, for the use of the words “rags” and “exposed flesh” elevate the building to the status of a sullen and borderline malevolent character. Ultimately, the narrative suggests that the house itself is infected, just as the hares and humans are.

Along with the physical setting, the time frame of the text is a crucial aspect of Kingfisher’s focus on The Reinterpretation of Classic Literature. The story takes place in 1890, and this choice impacts several elements, including the