Uncanny valley: Kim Fu’s venue of post-COVID horror, ‘The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts’

In this poignant episode of The Right Question, host Lauren Korn engages in a deeply reflective conversation with author Kim Fu about her novel *The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts*, a haunting exploration of grief, liminality, and the psychological aftermath of caregiving. Set in the surreal aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Eleanor, a therapist who, after her mother’s death, becomes entangled in a ghostly presence that mirrors her unresolved dependency and emotional stasis. Fu reveals how the novel uses the uncanny valley of liminal spaces—between reality and dream, physical and virtual, life and death—to mirror the collective trauma of a world suspended in transition. Drawing inspiration from Shirley Jackson and Daphne du Maurier, Fu emphasizes that true horror lies not in supernatural jump scares, but in the mundane terrors of bureaucracy, elder care, and the emotional collapse of adulthood. The conversation evolves into a powerful meditation on grief, intergenerational dependency, and the societal silence around aging and death, with Fu expressing her hope that the book offers solace through shared vulnerability. The episode ultimately becomes a testament to the emotional resonance of fiction in helping readers confront their own unspoken fears and dependencies. Key takeaways include: 1) Grief and horror are deeply intertwined, as loss dissolves the boundaries between self and other, reality and memory; 2) Liminal spaces—both physical and psychological—are fertile ground for narrative horror because they expose the fragility of our constructed realities; 3) The true horror in *The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts* is not the ghost, but the systemic failures of elder care, housing, and emotional preparedness; 4) Fiction’s power lies in its ability to let readers co-create meaning through ambiguity, while still grounding them in precise sensory detail; 5) The novel challenges the myth of self-sufficiency, revealing how dependency is not weakness but a universal human condition. The overall tone is deeply empathetic, introspective, and quietly hopeful, with a focus on emotional truth over resolution.