Jorgen's ancestor Nils brought a troll with him from Norway in order to ensure safe passage for his ship.

In exchange, Nils and his descendants, including Jorgen, began kidnapping children and giving them to the troll, a cycle that has been ongoing for centuries.

He has been streaming a dark web video feed of their son, in which viewers pay for access and wait for Brian to be eaten by the troll.

[1] He said several authors, including Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King and Peter Straub have explored how people respond to horror, and LaValle makes "a significant contribution to this tradition" in The Changeling.

[2] Writing in The New York Times, he called the book a "rambunctious fairy-tale epic", but of the "old kind" where there are no "happily ever after" endings.

[2] Rafferty said LaValle periodically shatters the readers' "happily-ever-after reverie" with horrors and catastrophes, and the truth "about the anxieties and ambivalences of modern parenting, the psychological value of the stories we tell ourselves and our children, and the rigors of survival in urban America.

"[2] Rafferty stated that many of the characters in The Changeling are descendants of immigrants, and the novel is "rich in the ambiguous history of [New York City] ... [and] its noisy, clamorous setting.

"[2] In a review in The Guardian, James Smart called The Changeling a "punchy cocktail of modern parenting and ancient magic".

[3] He liked the role technology plays in the novel, and described New York City as "arguably the book’s strongest character".

Smart felt he would have liked the villains to have had "a little more oomph", but added, "LaValle hooks the reader deep into his increasingly eldritch thriller.

It concluded, "LaValle has successfully delivered a tale of wonder and thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a parent.

[11] In 2021, Apple TV+ announced a series order for the show, with Lakeith Stanfield to star and executive produce.