Reader, I Murdered Him Podcast Book Club discussion

Welcome to our discussion of Daphne by Josh Malerman! Below are some questions to get the discussion started, but feel free to bring up any topics you’d like to discuss.

There are moments in history where large groups of people have been noted to suffer from similar delusions or mass hysteria, but do you think it’s possible for an entire town to suppress an event like the Daphne Vann murders? Was this phenomenon psychological or paranormal?

Do urban legends, folktales, or fairy tales have real power when these stories are passed down across generations? Are they really the stories of supernatural events, or are they just how groups of people share their fears?

Why do you think the town of Samhattan was willing to forget about Daphne after her murder? Are there reasons to suppress trauma rather than deal with it? Or is it better to confront that trauma and move forward?

What did you make of the last line in the book, where Kit reminds the reader the rim has never lied to her? Do you think Daphne will come back for Kit at another point in her life? Or is Daphne just the name Kit has given to her anxiety?

Do you believe Daphne—or her spirit—was really killing the basketball players, or was the reality the simple version of events, that Coach Wanda had been kidnapped and brainwashed by Daphne to complete her work?