Despite the She Shed’s jocular beginnings, the four friends share a deep need for such an enclave. What does the She Shed represent to them?
Amy, Liz, Jess, and Melissa are all quite different. But their reluctant acceptance of their suburban roles and their hatred for what they call the Mom Mafia unite them. Do you think their bonds of friendship would have been just as strong if the Mom Mafia didn’t exist?
Amy realizes something is off with Liz when Liz fails to clean up her house after their movie night. What would be the first sign of demonic possession in your best friend?
The demon offers its first tangible threat by slaughtering the bunnies on Amy’s lawn, which is only discovered during the neighborhood block party. Why do you think this was the demon’s first statement of threat?
When Liz becomes possessed, she isn’t afraid to wreak havoc on the town. Do you think other people in the neighborhood noticed the drastic change in Liz to the same degree that her friends did? Would others have sensed the presence of something eerily abnormal? Discuss.
Author Maureen Kilmer touches on some darker themes: addiction, depression, isolation. Outside of the story’s obvious horror elements, in what forms do we see darkness or evil surrounding a character? Is darkness limited to a certain kind of character? If so, why?
The suburban life is relentlessly social, awfully competitive, and continually hectic. The husbands of Whispering Farms Subdivision should share (mostly) the same burdens as their wives, yet the women seem to bear the weight of exhaustion more readily. Discuss the husbands’ methods of coping with their respective living situations as compared to their wives.
Amy has her hands full with her two kids for whom she must engage with the PTA and pretentious block parties. But what she wants to do is make a difference. Name a few reasons why Amy might dread organizational projects for the school.
The pressures of motherhood don’t always allow for many bonding moments between mother and child. On top of searching for a job, Amy must orchestrate top-tier playdates and take her kids out for ice cream and pizza, all the while cleaning up after their messes. But when Mavis emerges, Emily’s ability to see Amelia brings Amy’s more intimate moments with Emily into focus. Discuss how the pressures of motherhood can both bring one closer to individuals and create distance in one’s relationships.
Amy quickly learns how to deal with a volatile Liz: how to decipher the real Liz from the possessed Liz. Amy can render these two versions as clearly distinct. Would you find it difficult to see your friend in the same way if they had attacked you, despite knowing they were possessed?
Once Amy realizes it’s up to her, Melissa, and Jess to save Liz, she tries to rally her friends to exorcise the demon. Instead, she’s left with empty text messages from Jess and Melissa, who decide it would be best to leave town—and Liz. Do you understand the impulse to leave town? In what instances do loyalty (and exorcisms) trump fear and safety?
During one of their movie nights, Amy mentions that she “was a serious horror movie fan as a teenager” (this page). Meanwhile, Melissa grew up fearing the mildest of threats: birth control, Halloween, weed. Discuss how their respective backgrounds inform their reactions to the Ouija board. What strengths do each of the women bring to the table both in terms of demon-fighting and excelling at the suburban way?