What Feasts at Night

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What were your overall impressions of What Feasts at Night? How did the blend of folklore, trauma, and humor shape your reading experience?

2. What was your impression of Kingfisher’s portrayal of folkloric beliefs?

3. If you have also read What Moves the Dead, how does this sequel compare to the premise of the first installment? How does Kingfisher expand the tone, themes, and worldbuilding of the first book?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. In the beginning of the novella, Easton must contend with the ambiguous emotional experience of returning to a home that holds a multitude of complex memories. Have you ever had to return to a place that held deep significance for your past and your identity? How did your emotional experience align with (or contrast with) Easton’s?

2. Easton’s experience of trauma is portrayed as a place rather than an event. Can you relate to the idea of a past experience feeling geographically present in your day-to-day life?

3. The novella places great importance on caretaking. How do your own experiences reflect the burdens or rewards of such an endeavor?

4. The villagers of Wolf’s Ear rely on a folkloric worldview to explain suffering. What cultural stories or family traditions in your own life are designed to shape people’s responses to fear or uncertainty?

5. Easton often uses jokes or sarcasm to mask discomfort or vulnerability. Have you ever used humor in a similar way to cope with stress or fear? What was the outcome?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. How does the novella reflect real-world tensions between science and spiritual belief systems? Can you think of modern parallels where medical knowledge and traditional beliefs intersect?

2. Gallacia is portrayed as a place that is caught between eras and heavily influenced by its history, poverty, and superstitions. How do these cultural forces shape the characters’ decisions as events unfold?

3. How does the novella’s treatment of the dead serve as a comment on one’s social responsibility toward the linked issues of memory and history?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The novella deliberately blurs the boundaries between dreams, trauma, and the supernatural. How does this narrative structure influence your understanding of what is “real” within the story?

2. Discuss Easton as a narrator. Is ka reliable, unreliable, or something in between? How does kan voice shape the tone and emotional impact of the novella?

3. The Tension between Folk Belief and Rational Inquiry is a central theme of What Feasts at Night. How does the novella complicate and conflate these two worldviews?

4. Examine the author’s use of imagery related to moths. How does this element intensify the understated tone of Gothic horror that permeates the narrative?

5. What tactics does Kingfisher use to render the moroi both monstrous and sympathetic? How does this depiction of emotional depth complicate the gruesome details of the creature’s physical presence?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If What Feasts at Night were adapted into a film or series, who would you cast as Easton, Angus, and Miss Potter? What physical locations would you use to capture Gallacia’s atmosphere on the screen?

2. Imagine writing a companion story from another character’s perspective. Which character would you choose, and what moment from the novella would you want to explore through their eyes?

3. Create a small collage or mood board representing the novella’s key themes. Afterward, discuss which images you chose and what aspects of the story they reflect.