Happy spooky szn babes! here is a nice zombie book to get you all in the mood. Ok, so at the beginning, it was definitely giving Mexican Gothic with the British people, the creepy old house, and the fungus not just contributing but also playing a starring role in the creepiness of this novel. However, where this one differs is that instead of the old man being the bad guy, it's the actual fungus with a mind of its own! It's seriously wild. Go read it.
Like most people, probably, as I read a book, I try to figure out why the author chose the title. Sometimes it's very obvious, and sometimes it makes about as much sense as an early 2000s pop punk song title (ie: There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought of It Yet by Panic! at the Disco). In this case, it was very obvious but not quickly. it took a while to find the answer to the question, "What moves the dead?" FREAKIN FUNGUS. gross.
Ok, so basically, the river that runs alongside this creepy old house (because it could never have been a normal house because they don't have mold or zombies) has a particular type of fungus growing in it. I don't think we got a name for it, and if we did, I can't find it. Anyway, it seems like it's based on that fungus that grows in ants and makes them into zombies called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which honestly makes this book even scarier, knowing this is somewhat plausible. That's why I hate watching scary movies when they say "based on a true story" because it means it could happen again, and if it can happen again, it can happen to me, and so I walk around in fear. Because of this, I did do a bit of research out of fear-fueled curiosity, and with a quick google, I found that we can't be infected by this fungus because our internal body temperature is too high. Ah, the perks of being hot.
So, while that's essentially the plot of the novel, there is another thing noteworthy that I wanted to share. In this book, the narrator, Easton, teaches us about the way pronouns are used in the Gallacian language. So, Easton talks about how the Gallacian language has 7 pronouns depending on what or who you're talking about, but ka only talked about 4 of them. There is ta/tha (he/him) and tan/than (she/her), of course, but also va/van for children, ka/kan for the sworn soldiers, and then there are ones for inanimate objects, God, and priests. I've just never heard of such a thing, and I think it's incredibly interesting.
Well, this was a short one. Both the book and the blog post. Sorry about that, but go read! You'll love it and be creeped out just as much as I was. What a perfect start to our spooky szn books! Also, I saw there's a sequel coming out in March of next year called What Feasts at Night which sounds nasty and I will DEFINITELY be reading it as soon as it comes out.
- I hate mushrooms,
Ceraya 🍄
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