Wyatt M Southerland

Gaslamps, Gunsmoke and Gothika: The Honeysuckle Horror Wyatt M Southerland

"Gaslamps, Gunsmoke and Gothika: The Honeysuckle Horror" is a gothic horror novelette set in a fictional world of industry and colonialism afflicted by paranormal forces from beyond the land of the living. The narrative follows the experiences of three individuals--Donard the blacksmith, Doctor Ifra al-Jintra, and Circus Ringmaster Octavius Bimblewald--as they are caught up in an eldritch entity's plot to steal the souls of the citizens of their frontier river-town. They witness the annual Honeysuckle Festival become corrupted into a night of murder and mayhem as all but the three of them seem to inexplicably lose their minds. Circumstances lead the three characters to finding each other and together they attempt to find their way through the elaborate complex of the mayoral estate in search of an escape before they too become slaves of the Honeysuckle Horror.