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Analogue of Horror

Author Newsletter

Analogue ofHorrorAuthor Newsletter
  1. Shadows Are Falling August 2026
  2. Will the real Dr. Qiu please stand up
  3. Oh Golly, Mrs. Molly!
  4. The Dominant One Countdown Deal June 1- June 8
  5. The Lancaster Witch
  6. Edmund Kemper Serial Killer that inspired Manhunter
  7. Colleen Hoover Verity Review
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Michelle lan, a proud native of New England and a self-proclaimed horror fanatic, delves fearlessly into the depths of suspense, thrillers, and the eerie arts. In her spare time, she diligently sharpens her skills as a creative writer, aspiring to breathe life into three-dimensional, emotionally resonant characters who will captivate readers and lead them on unforgettable journeys. You can also find her at...


Linktree https://linktr.ee/michelleian.author

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/michelleian_author/

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15722472

Amazon Author Central https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michelle%20Ian/author/B01LIM60WA

Smore's Link to View All Newsletters https://www.smore.com/u/michelle.iantosca

Substack https://substack.com/@michelleian

Website https://michelleianbooks.com

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SHADOWS ARE FALLING SHADOWS ARE FALLING

BOOK 3 BOOK 3

SUMMER 2026 SUMMER 2026

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Late on November 18, 1982, in the quiet town of Fishbone, Montana, a ten-year-old boy is slaughtered in his bedroom. Just down the hall, his older sister moves through the house, unaware of the horror unfolding only feet away.


The nature of his death defies explanation, neither entirely human nor animal.

Hundreds of miles away in New England, Dr. Robert Qiu, a brilliant but haunted medical examiner, carries the dead like a second skin. A witness to a brutal double homicide years earlier, the memory still shadows him.


When the boy’s murder plunges Fishbone into panic, Sheriff Peter Stubbe calls in Qiu, convinced only he can uncover the truth.


But as Qiu arrives in the frozen, neon-lit town, he finds something far darker waiting beneath the surface. In Fishbone, something is stirring. And some ghosts refuse to stay buried.

What waits in the shadows: man, beast… or something worse?


And when it comes for him, will Dr. Qiu uncover the truth—or become the next victim?

The Very Real & The Quite Serious Dr. Qiu The Very Real & The Quite Serious Dr. Qiu

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The Very Real Dr. Robert Qiu Has Entered the Room.

Let’s talk about Dr. Robert Qiu.


Yes, that Dr. Robert Qiu.


The man. The myth. This M.D. with a mind sharp enough to classify as evidence.


Do not let the serious picture fool you.


Beneath that composed, intelligent, “I’ve seen some things (arch of his eyebrow)...” exterior is a man with a snarky laugh, a lethal mind, and the unnerving calm of someone who could probably ruin your life with a syringe and a well-placed silence.


He is a man of medicine.

A man of skill.

And, quite frankly, I am convinced he could delete you from the census and never leave a trace.


Not that he would.


Probably.


perhaps.


Depends on your manners.


Robert Qiu does not simply walk into a story. He arrives with atmosphere. He brings the temperature down five degrees. He makes the room feel smarter, colder, and faintly more alluring. He is the kind of character who does not need to announce himself as important because the narrative has already pulled out a chair for him and poured him something expensive... and with devastating effect.


And now, he is being called to Fishbone, Montana. Which is unfortunate for everyone involved.


Late on November 18, 1982, in the quiet town of Fishbone, a ten-year-old boy is slaughtered in his bedroom. Just down the hall, his older sister moves through the house, unaware that horror is unfolding only feet away.

The death makes no sense.

Not fully human.

Not fully animal.

Not anything that should exist inside a locked room in a small town where the snow falls pretty and the secrets fester beautifully underneath.


Hundreds of miles away in New England, Dr. Robert Qiu knows a thing or two about the dead. Brilliant, haunted, and far too perceptive for anyone’s comfort, he has spent years carrying one particular memory like a blade under the ribs: a brutal double homicide he witnessed long ago.


So when Fishbone begins to panic, Sheriff Peter Stubbe calls him in.


When the dead don’t speak, you call the man who knows how to make them talk.


But Fishbone is not waiting politely with answers. Fishbone has teeth.


The town is frozen, neon-lit, and humming with something sinister beneath the surface. Something buried. Something waking up with dirt under its nails and a grudge in its mouth.


And Dr. Qiu, brilliant man that he is, has just stepped directly into its path.


What waits in the shadows?

Man?

Beast?

Or something worse?


And when it finally comes for him, will Dr. Robert Qiu uncover the truth...

or become the next name written in blood?


Either way, I fear he is going to look stubbornly composed while doing it.


More from Fishbone soon. Keep the lights on. Keep the doors locked. And if Dr. Qiu releases his signature snarky laugh...


Run.

OH GOLLY MRS. MOLLY! OH GOLLY MRS. MOLLY!

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Small but mighty. Sweet, but saucy when the moment calls for claws. Mrs. Molly is the kind of muse who can smile through chaos,carry the room on her shoulders, and still somehow come out on top.


In Shadows Are Falling, that spark helped inspire Molly Larsen, a sixteen-year-old girl living in the quiet town of Fishbone, Montana. Late on November 18, 1982, while a snowstorm creeps across town and darkness presses against the windows, a ten-year-old boy is slaughtered in his bedroom. Just down the hall, his older sister moves through the house with music in her ears, unaware of the horror unfolding only feet away.


She is the hush before the scream.
The girl with music in her ears while the house holds its breath.
The last bright thing moving through a hallway where innocence is already beginning to rot.


Because sometimes horror doesn’t announce itself. Sometimes it waits in the next room. Sometimes it stands right behind you, close enough to hear you breathing, while you never think to turn around.

And for that eerie little spark, we tip our hat to Mrs. Molly, sweet, saucy, and just mighty enough to move among the shadows.

THE DOMINANT ONE THE DOMINANT ONE

Amazon's Kindle Countdown Deal June 1-June 8th. Available on Kindle unlimited. Amazon's Kindle Countdown Deal June 1-June 8th. Available on Kindle unlimited.

COUNTDOWN DEAL ON AMAZON KINDLE AND KINDLE UNLIMITED JUNE 1-JUNE 8
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LANCASTER WITCH LANCASTER WITCH

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In 1921, according to local legend, a photographer wandered into the rugged mountains of Berks County, Pennsylvania, hoping to capture the lonely beauty of the landscape. He also hoped, half in jest and half in curiosity, to find some trace of the figure whispered about in the area: the Lancaster Witch.

What he found was a woman standing alone in a desolate clearing.

She appeared suddenly, oddly, as if the land itself had set her there. Uneasy, the photographer took several pictures before returning home shaken and ill. The story claims he died in his sleep that very night, before ever seeing what his camera had captured.

Months later, his widow developed the remaining photographs from his final trip. Most were blurred or ruined. But a few revealed the strange woman in white, standing in the Pennsylvania wilderness, half human, half omen.

Whether the image is folklore, hoax, ghost story, or something stranger, the Lancaster Witch remains the kind of tale horror loves best: an old photograph, a dead witness, and a woman in the woods who may never have wanted to be found.

SERIAL KILLER EDMUND KEMPER STANDING WITH TWO PRISON GUARDS SERIAL KILLER EDMUND KEMPER STANDING WITH TWO PRISON GUARDS

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Edmund Kemper, one of the most infamous American serial killers of the 20th century, towering over two California prison guards. Standing at 6 feet 9 inches tall, Kemper's physical size matched the enormity of his crimes. Between 1964 and 1973, he murdered ten people, including his own mother, his mother's friend, and a 15 year old girl, in a spree that combined chilling intelligence with brutal violence. He started at the age of 15, when he murdered his paternal grandparents.


Kemper was nicknamed the "Co-ed Killer", as most of his non-familial victims were female college students hitchhiking in the vicinity of Santa Cruz Valley, California. Most of his murders included necrophilia, decapitation, dismemberment and possibly cannibalism.


Found sane and guilty at his trial in 1973, Kemper requested the death penalty for his crimes. Capital punishment was suspended in California at the time, and he instead received eight concurrent life sentences. Since then, he has been incarcerated at California Medical Facility in Vacaville.


After turning himself in to authorities, Kemper cooperated extensively with investigators and psychologists, becoming a key case study in criminal profiling. His calm demeanor and articulate speech made him both fascinating and deeply unsettling to those who met him. Even in prison, he displayed a paradoxical nature-recording audiobooks for the blind and interacting politely with guards while showing no remorse for his actions.


Kemper remains incarcerated at California Medical Facility, where he has lived for decades, occasionally surfacing in documentaries and interviews that continue to explore the psychology of serial killers.


Kemper's cooperation with the FBl's Behavioral Science Unit in the 1970s helped agents like John Douglas and Robert Ressler develop the early foundations of criminal profiling—work that later inspired the series Mindhunter.

VERITY VERITY

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A tense, unsettling read with a wicked little pulse.


Verity by Colleen Hoover is a spiraling taut, thriller. Dark, twisty, and addictive in that “one more chapter” way that quietly creeps into your bedtime. The story follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who’s offered the chance to complete the bestselling book series of Verity Crawford, a famous author left unable to finish it after a devastating accident. But once Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, she discovers an unfinished manuscript that reveals far more than she expected, pulling her into a disturbing web of secrets, desire, grief, and obsession.

This book has that claustrophobic, something-is-wrong-in-this-house feeling that keeps the pages turning.

Verity is the kind of story that keeps tightening its fist around your throat until the very last page. There were parts toward the end where I actually said out loud, “Don’t do it!” But then again, we wouldn’t have a story, would we? And when it comes to love and obsession, can we ever "not do it?"

STEPHEN KING ON WRITING STEPHEN KING ON WRITING

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WEBSITE: michelleianbooks.com 📚 WEBSITE: michelleianbooks.com 📚

Michelle Ian

Michelle Ian

Michelle Ian was raised in the shadowy corners of New England, where the fog lingers a little too long and the trees always seem to whisper. A lifelong disciple of horror and psyc

launch michelleianbooks.com

CREDITS CREDITS

VERITY-AUTHOR COLLEEN HOOVER

THE LANCASTER WITCH-https://unchartedlancaster.com/2025/09/04/the-cursed-photograph-of-the-lancaster-witch/

EDMUND KEMPER-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kemper

Stephen King Quote. Stephen King Author.

Hope you all have enjoyed my newsletter.

Until next time...

YOU SHOULD BE WRITING. YOU SHOULD BE WRITING.

Michelle Iantosca
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