The Twisted Ones

One of the novel’s key twists concerns the “holler people” as a vanished civilization. How does this premise adapt the conventions of folk horror for the contemporary world?

Mouse expresses uncertainty over how to describe her relationship to Cotgrave, settling on the term “step-grandfather.” How does Cotgrave’s liminal position within the family contribute to the novel’s exploration of inheritance?

T. Kingfisher filters the cosmic dread of folk horror through the voice of a modern freelance editor. How does Mouse’s narrative style—specifically, her editorial impulses—provide metacommentary on genre conventions, and to what end?