 | |
| Author | T. Kingfisher |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Christina Mrozik |
| Language | English |
| Series | Sworn Soldier |
Release number | 2 |
| Genre | Horror |
| Set in | Gallacia |
| Publisher | Tor Nightfire |
Publication date | 13 Feb 2024 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 160 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 978-1-250-83085-2 |
| Preceded by | What Moves the Dead |
What Feasts at Night is a 2024 horror novel by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. The novel is a standalone sequel to the 2022 novella What Moves the Dead .
Alex Easton returns to kan [lower-alpha 1] family hunting lodge in Gallacia. Ka is accompanied by their batman Angus and English mycologist Eugenia Potter. The caretaker Codrin has died. Codrin's daughter claims that the man died of lung inflammation; some villagers say he was killed by a moroi, a creature that steals the breath of its victims by sitting on their chests. The moroi may take the form of a moth or of a beautiful woman.
Angus hires the widow Botezatu and her grandson Bors to replace Codrin. Easton has a dream that a moroi is suffocating ka, and shortly afterwards Bors takes ill with a lung condition. The Widow believes that the moroi has attacked him. The moroi is the spirit of a dead woman buried in the lodge's spring house, which has recently run dry. Easton moves a stone, which causes the water to flow again. Unfortunately, ka does this at night, accidentally trapping the moroi outside and preventing her from returning to her body. That night, the moroi attacks Easton.
Easton becomes trapped in a dream. Ka speaks with Bors, who is also trapped. They see Botezatu, who offers herself and Easton to the moroi in exchange for Bors. The moroi attacks Botezatu, but Easton tackles her. The dream world changes to Easton's time during the war. Ka uses kan service revolver to kill the moroi in the dream world.
Ka awakens four days later; Angus and Eugenia are treating ka for pneumonia. Easton was found half-submerged in the springhouse. They dig up the moroi's corpse from inside the springhouse and she is buried in the local churchyard. Easton, Angus, and Eugenia return to their normal lives, and Bors remains behind as the new caretaker.
Publishers Weekly wrote that "Kingfisher’s winning formula of creepy folklore, affable protagonists, familiar Gothic tropes, and truly unsettling horror imagery makes this sing." [1]
Julia Glassman of The Mary Sue rated the novella 5/5. Glassman stated that in the first novella, "Easton is mostly a spectator to the horrific goings-on". Easton plays a more active role in What Feasts at Night. Glassman wrote that the moroi "forces Easton to relive their days as a soldier, and the story becomes a double haunting: the literal ghost feeding on Easton, and Easton’s wartime memories." The review praised Easton's character, calling them "a nonbinary war vet with PTSD, a dry wit, and a big heart". [2] Fiona Denton of Grimdark Magazine also praised the novella, writing that the "writing is witty, the characters superb, and the tale will keep you gripped from cover to cover". Denton praised the characters, particularly the "camaraderie between Easton and Angus". [3]
Dan Simmons is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works that span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes within a single novel. Simmons's genre-intermingling Song of Kali (1985) won the World Fantasy Award. He also writes mysteries and thrillers, some of which feature the continuing character Joe Kurtz.
George Raymond Richard Martin, also known by the initials G.R.R.M., is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which were adapted into the Primetime Emmy Award–winning television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019) and its prequel series House of the Dragon (2022–present). He also helped create the Wild Cards anthology series, and contributed worldbuilding for the video game Elden Ring (2022).
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.
John Shirley is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, dark street fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, Wyatt in Wichita, and one non-fiction book, Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas. Shirley has written novels, short stories, TV scripts and screenplays—including The Crow—and has published over 84 books including 10 short-story collections. As a musician, Shirley has fronted his own bands and written lyrics for Blue Öyster Cult and others. His newest novels are Stormland and Axle Bust Creek.
John Crowley is an American author of fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and non-fiction. Crowley studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer.
Jane Jensen is an American video game designer and author. She is mostly known as the creator of the Gabriel Knight series of adventure games, and also co-founded Oberon Media and Pinkerton Road video game development companies. Jensen also writes under the name Eli Easton.
Thomas Ligotti is an American horror writer. His writings are rooted in several literary genres – most prominently weird fiction – and have been described by critics as works of philosophical horror, often formed into short stories and novellas in the tradition of gothic fiction. The worldview espoused by Ligotti in his fiction and non-fiction has been described as pessimistic and nihilistic. The Washington Post called him "the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction."
Michael Easton is an American film, television and voice actor, writer, and director. Although the Emmy-nominated actor may be best known for his work on the series Ally McBeal, VR.5,Total Recall 2070, One Life to Live and General Hospital, he is also the author of several critically-acclaimed novels, including the trilogy Soul Stealer, and is an accomplished director whose films have earned multiple independent film awards.
Tanith Lee was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. She also wrote a children's picture book, and many poems. She wrote two episodes of the BBC science fiction series Blake's 7 .
The Sir Julius Vogel Awards are awarded each year at the New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in New Zealand science fiction, fantasy, horror, and science fiction fandom. They are commonly referred to as the Vogels.
Silver Bullet is a 1985 American horror film based on the 1983 Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, and Corey Haim, with Megan Follows, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon in supporting roles. The film is directed by Dan Attias, written by King and produced by Martha De Laurentiis.
Phantasm is a 1979 American science fantasy horror film that was directed, written, photographed, and edited by Don Coscarelli. The first film in the Phantasm franchise, it introduces the Tall Man, a supernatural and malevolent undertaker who turns the dead of Earth into dwarf zombies to be sent to his planet and used as slaves. He is opposed by a young boy, Mike, who tries to convince his older brother Jody and family friend Reggie of the threat.
Phantasm II is a 1988 American science fantasy action-horror film and the sequel to Phantasm (1979). It was written and directed by Don Coscarelli and stars Angus Scrimm, James LeGros and Reggie Bannister. The first film's protagonist, Mike, recently released from a mental institution, recruits Reggie and some new friends in an effort to defeat the villain Tall Man.
LGBT themes in horror fiction refers to sexuality in horror fiction that can often focus on LGBTQ+ characters and themes within various forms of media. It may deal with characters who are coded as or who are openly LGBTQ+, or it may deal with themes or plots that are specific to gender and sexual minorities.
Fear is a psychological thriller-horror novella by American writer L. Ron Hubbard, which first appeared in the magazine Unknown Fantasy Fiction in July 1940.
"The Shadow Kingdom" is a fantasy novelette by American writer Robert E. Howard, the first of his Kull stories, set in his fictional Thurian Age. It was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in August 1929.
Nettle & Bone is a 2022 fantasy novel by Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher. The novel has been described as a dark fairy tale. It won the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the 2023 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 2022.
A House with Good Bones is a 2023 Southern Gothic horror novel by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. The novel centers on Samantha Montgomery, a woman who experiences strange events when she returns to her ancestral North Carolina home.
Thornhedge is a 2023 novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. The novella is a reimagining of the story of Sleeping Beauty. It won the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
What Moves the Dead is a 2022 horror novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. It is based on the short story The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. The novella received critical acclaim, including a win for the 2023 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel and a nomination for the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novella.