I'd learned long ago that things you don't see can kill you, but at least the visions don't stalk your mind for decades after. [chapter 2]
A sequel to What Moves the Dead, the horror at the core of this novella is based on folklore rather than on any existing work of literature. Sworn soldier Alex Easton travels, with batman Angus and the redoubtable mycologist Miss Potter, to the remote hunting lodge which is Alex's inheritance. Alex would rather be enjoying themself in Paris, even before they hear the stories of a moroi, a creature that haunts dreams and steals breath. The widow Botezatu, who has come to cook and clean at the lodge after the death of Codrin (the previous caretaker), makes no secret of her disapproval of Alex -- and the widow is convinced that a moroi was responsible for Codrin's death.
I found the characters more vivid than the plot, but the setting (rural Gallacia, with deathly silences and mist-shrouded forests and gentle decay) was evocative. Alex's PTSD was more evident here than in the previous novella. Miss Potter's hilariously useless Gallacian phrasebook was entertaining and provided some levity, but there's a strong sense of nightmare here.
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