What Feasts at Night

What Feasts at Night is the second novella in T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series, which follows Lieutenant Alex Easton of Gallacia as ka navigates peculiar supernatural disturbances, deals with lingering war trauma, and forges unconventional friendships. The series begins with What Moves the Dead (2022): Kingfisher’s acclaimed modern reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” That first novella establishes Easton’s narrative voice, introduces Miss Eugenia Potter and Angus (both of whom reappear here) and features Kingfisher’s signature blend of horror, humor, and scientific curiosity. In What Moves the Dead, Easton confronts a deadly fungal organism that infects the Usher family and destabilizes both their bodies and their minds. Several elements from that narrative carry over into What Feasts at Night, including Easton’s ongoing tinnitus, the influence of Parisian medicine, and Miss Potter’s enduring fascination with mycology. While What Feasts at Night functions as a standalone novella, it deepens the Sworn Soldier series’ emotional and thematic focus by returning Easton to kan homeland where ka must confront the lingering wounds of war and superstition. Whereas What Moves the Dead emphasizes biological and atmospheric manifestations of horror, this second installment foregrounds the influence of folklore, the disquiet surrounding an improper burial, and the psychological toll of returning to a place that has been shaped by trauma.

Kingfisher continues expanding Easton’s world in the third novella, What Stalks the Deep (2025), which follows Easton into another uncanny landscape and further explores the interplay between cultural belief, personal history, and supernatural threat. Across the series, Kingfisher uses Easton’s singular narrative voice, the cultural specificity of Gallacia—including its complex pronoun systems and folk traditions—and a blend of humor and dread to craft a cohesive body of horror fiction. What Feasts at Night serves as a pivotal middle installment that anchors the series in Easton’s past while widening the scope to allow for future strange encounters.