The Sunken, the Adored

A chilling Lovecraftian horror story from the author of Midnight Rooms, in which a recently freed slave from America making a new life for herself in 1800 Venice finds the mysterious plague that killed her former master may have followed her to Italy . . . and now stalks the canals.

Venice, Italy, 1800's. The only survivor on a ship, Mercy disembarks in Italy, carrying two precious possessions: the first-ever camera that makes daguerreotype plates and a letter regarding an appointment meant for the dead slave holder.

The letter takes her to Umberto, an Anatomist. In his basement workspace, she learns he hired the man who formally owned her to capture images of dissected corpses. But that man is dead. With no other recourse for her or Umberto, Mercy assumes the position. In return for the sample plate she took, Umberto takes her to the home of the Contessa, a British woman who married into her title. Charmed by Mercy, she invites the young woman to stay for the season to take pictures.

Formerly enslaved, Mercy finds this new life of freedom heady, as she takes on the mantle of a photographer and guest in a decadent house of pleasure under the hospitality of an aristocrat. Under the Contessa's roof, she meets a diverse cast of friendly and strange individuals with whom she forms new bonds and friendships.

But all is not well in her new life. Something dark and hungry stalks the canals that snake through the city, biting at her heels. The same death that rode the waves with her now surrounds her in this strange place. What is this malevolence that haunts her? As she tries to understand this macabre force, she must grapple with a greater fear: that the horror that endangers her friends is herself.

The Sunken, The Adored is dark, eerie, and wholly original--at once unsettling and irresistibly addictive.

Donyae Coles is a speculative fiction author who absolutely believes in ghosts. She is the author of the novel Midnight Rooms, and her short stories have appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Pseudopod, and other media. She has also published in anthologies such as All These Sunken Souls. She lives in the Twin Cities with her children and cats.