Chapter 27 Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Alison stands alone on the snow-covered sidewalk of Main Street, waiting for the town's holiday parade. She is positioned directly in front of the Book Cellar, whose window features a tree-shaped stack of hundreds of books strung with lights. The entire street is dressed for the season: lampposts wrapped in white lights and wreaths, the kitchen shop displaying red and green cooking accessories, the hardware store advertising Christmas lights, snow shovels, and ice melt, and the bagel shop showing both a menorah and a Christmas tree decorated with small bagels. Alison holds a black coffee from Get Roasted, trying to stay warm as large flakes collect on her face.
Marie, one of the owners of the Book Cellar, spots Alison and approaches. She asks Alison to come by in the next few days to sign stock for her upcoming Moxie book. Alison agrees, though she admits the book is not quite finished.
At ten after six, police arrive and close Main Street to traffic at both ends. The parade crowd is heard before it is seen—a cacophony of drumming, clattering bells, howling, and screaming. What emerges from the darkness and swirling snow is not the cheerful Santa parade from the previous week, but a group of about twelve figures in elaborate, terrifying costumes. They wear grotesque papier-mâché devil masks with horns of various sizes. One is dressed in burlap, another in a torn and ragged Santa suit, one towers on stilts with a long tattered robe, and another wears white robes splattered with blood while carrying a child-sized human arm, waving it menacingly at the crowd.
Mothers pull their children closer. Shopkeepers step out with wide eyes, clearly not expecting this spectacle. Alison spots her daughter Izzy among the group—all in black, wearing a cape and a horned mask with glowing red LED eyes. Alison recognizes her only by her battered Doc Martens and the video camera she carries as she circles the others, capturing the scene. One of the demons approaches a small child, growling and making him jump back.
After the parade, Izzy hops into Alison's car at the high school parking lot, still wearing the cloak and mask. Alison tells her they were terrifying and that she loved it. Izzy explains that the costumes represent Krampus, a figure from an old European legend originating in Germany. Krampus accompanied Saint Nicholas at Christmastime—Saint Nicholas gave gifts to good children while Krampus punished the naughty ones, beating them with sticks and, in some stories, stealing or even eating them. Izzy describes it as the antithesis of the bright, cheery, commercial Christmas, calling it the dark side of Christmas, perfect for the darkest, coldest time of year.
Alison's heart races and her fingers tremble as she hears her mother's voice in her head: You, Alison, may call me Azha. When Izzy removes the mask, Alison feels herself relax, grateful to see her daughter's familiar face.
Izzy asks if they are going home, and Alison freezes, suddenly not wanting to return to the house where her mother waits. She drives slowly through the snow-covered roads, the trees forming a dark tunnel as they leave the paved road for the dirt road leading home.
Alison asks Izzy to do her a favor: not to scare her sister with the mask or Krampus stories, since Theo already has enough nightmare material with the Rat King. Izzy turns off the glowing lights in the mask.
Izzy then asks if Alison liked Theo's costume. Alison asks which one she was, and Izzy tells her—the one in white, the one carrying the bloody arm. Alison smiles and tells Izzy that she and Theo are perfect for each other, though she jokes that they may have scarred a few small children for life. Izzy laughs and says that is the point—to remind people, even little kids, that there is evil in the world. She argues that pretending the only thing sneaking around at night is Santa with his bag of toys is bullshit, and the sooner people see the truth, the better off they will be.
Key Events
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Alison waits for the holiday parade outside the Book Cellar and agrees to sign stock for Marie.
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A group of about twelve costumed figures in terrifying devil masks and Krampus-inspired outfits marches down Main Street, including one on stilts and one in blood-spattered white robes carrying a child-sized arm.
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Alison recognizes Izzy among the performers by her Doc Martens and video camera.
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Izzy explains the Krampus legend to Alison in the car.
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Alison hears her mother's voice in her head and becomes reluctant to go home.
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Izzy reveals that Theo was the one in white carrying the bloody arm.
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Alison asks Izzy not to scare her sister with Krampus stories or the mask.
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Izzy delivers a speech about the existence of evil in the world and the futility of pretending otherwise.
Character Development
Alison is visibly unsettled throughout the chapter. The parade's dark inversion of small-town cheer triggers a deeper disorientation—she thinks of the video clip she saw in Izzy's room and how it made her realize that everything she thought she knew about her mother growing up had been wrong. She reflects on the masks people wear, including her own, and the secrets she has kept from her daughters. Her physical reaction—racing heart, trembling fingers, a tight throat—intensifies when she hears her mother's voice in her head, and she becomes frozen at the thought of returning home. This chapter shows Alison's growing dread and her recognition that the world is not as it seems.
Izzy is enthusiastic and articulate about the Krampus performance, explaining its European origins and its meaning as the dark counterpart to commercial Christmas cheer. She is confident in her role, even proud of frightening small children, and she frames the performance as a necessary reminder of evil in the world. Her relationship with Theo is revealed as close and playful—Alison calls them perfect for each other.
Theo appears only through Izzy's description, but the revelation that she was the one in white carrying the bloody arm establishes her as an active participant in the dark performance, deepening the sense that both girls are drawn to the macabre.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Masks and Hidden Identities — The chapter is built around literal masks: the papier-mâché devil masks, Izzy's horned mask with glowing red eyes, and the mask Alison feels she wears in her own life. Alison explicitly connects the costumes to the idea that people hide their true selves, and she thinks of her mother's secrets and her own.
The Dark Side of Christmas — The Krampus parade is a deliberate inversion of the cheerful Santa parade from the previous week. Izzy frames it as the antithesis of commercial Christmas, a reminder that the darkest, coldest time of year has a demonic counterpart.
Pretense vs. Truth — Izzy's closing speech argues that pretending evil does not exist is foolish, and that seeing the truth is better. Alison's internal reflections echo this, as she realizes how much she has pretended and hidden.
Evil in the World — The chapter insists on the presence of evil, both in the Krampus legend and in Alison's real life, as her mother's voice intrudes on her thoughts.
Inversion of Small-Town Cheer — The picturesque, Hallmark-movie setting is turned inside out by the terrifying parade, and Alison feels dizzy with the sense that her familiar landscape has been transformed.
Demonic Presence — The Krampus figures, the glowing red eyes, and the child-sized arm all evoke a demonic presence that feels disturbingly real to Alison, especially as she connects it to her mother.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter Twenty-Seven deepens the novel's atmosphere of dread by placing the dark and demonic directly into Alison's everyday world. The Krampus parade is not a distant threat but a public spectacle in her own small town, and her daughter is an active participant. The chapter also advances Alison's psychological unraveling: her physical reaction to her mother's voice, her reluctance to go home, and her recognition that she has been wearing a mask of her own all point to the central conflict of the novel. Izzy's speech about evil in the world and the futility of pretense serves as a thematic statement that resonates with Alison's situation, and the revelation that Theo was the one carrying the bloody arm suggests that both daughters are more deeply entangled in the dark than Alison may realize.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Alison feel disoriented during the parade, and what does she connect it to?
Alison feels dizzy and disoriented because the terrifying Krampus parade inverts her Hallmark-movie version of small-town Christmas cheer. She connects this feeling to the video clip she saw in Izzy's room, which made her realize that everything she thought she knew about her mother was wrong. She reflects that her mother wore a mask of her own, and that Alison herself has been pretending and keeping secrets from her daughters.
2. What does Izzy say is the purpose of the Krampus performance?
Izzy explains that Krampus is a figure from an old European legend who punished naughty children while Saint Nicholas rewarded good ones. She says the performance is the antithesis of bright, commercial Christmas and is meant to remind people, even little kids, that there is evil in the world. She argues that pretending the only thing sneaking around at night is Santa is foolish, and that seeing the truth is better.
3. How does Alison react to the idea of going home, and what does this reveal about her state of mind?
When Izzy asks if they are going home, Alison sits frozen, suddenly not wanting to return to the house where her mother waits. Her heart races, her fingers tremble, and she hears her mother's voice in her head. This reveals that Alison is deeply afraid of her mother and that the demonic imagery of the parade has become intertwined with her real-life dread of the woman waiting at home.
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