Inhalation

by Michael Boulerice

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Pub Date Jun 16 2026 | Archive Date Jun 16 2026

Dead Sky Publishing | Death's Head Press

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Description

Retired auto body mechanic Milo St. Laurence is dying of cancer in a California hospital. He has weeks left to live. Instead of wasting away in a hospice, Milo travels to New England, wishing to spend his remaining time in the long-abandoned house his parents and all but one of his nine brothers and sisters died in. Some of his memories of home have become muddled over the years, but Milo can’ t shake the feeling that he needs to do something important before he checks out, but can’ t seem to figure out what, or why. While Milo lays in a hospital bed in the half-rotten structure he once shared with his family, his memories begin to return. He remembers being obsessed with the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland as a boy. He remembers working at his father’ s auto body shop as a young man. He remembers his siblings becoming sick with unexplainable illnesses, one after the other. He remembers how his parents, strict Catholics, refused to get any of them medical care, insisting God would save them if it was His will. He remembers watching his estranged sister Marie talk to an imaginary friend in corner of the living room. He remembers his parents started talking to the imaginary friend, too. Milo finally unlocks the repressed memory of night he ran screaming from the house and never returned, when Marie revealed the thing in the corner she and her parents had been communing with for years; the many-limbed caterpillar man, with his glowing eyes, and the alien hookah device he used to slowly suck the life out of the St. Lawrence children over a span of decades. Finally understanding his purpose for being back at the house, Milo enacts a wild plan to use his engineering skills to modify the monster’ s hookah for human operation, and use it to inhale the life smoke out of it, before it can do the same to him.?

Retired auto body mechanic Milo St. Laurence is dying of cancer in a California hospital. He has weeks left to live. Instead of wasting away in a hospice, Milo travels to New England, wishing to...

Advance Praise

"Boulerice takes us into Milo’s world, rife with childhood trauma, a toxic sibling rivalry to beat all sibling rivalries, cults, and a haunted house with a truly scary Cosmic Horror monstrosity at the center of it all. A weird and thrilling read, with humor right where and when you need it. Buckle up when you read this one, because it’s a ride!"

–Lauren Bolger, Author of The Barre Incidents

"A bit like having your sleep paralysis demons invite themselves in whenever they please, Inhalation approaches terminal illness and the cult of religion in a way that forgoes asking permission, and instead forces you to grapple with the monster in the room."

–Michael Bettendorf, author of TRVE CVLT and MIDWESTERN CHROME

"Don’t look at the thing in the corner! Boulerice crafts a truly heartbreaking work of cosmic horror with Inhalation. It’s got religious zealots, nightmare angels, familial tragedy, and the perfect ratio of dark humor to creeping dread. At moments tender and at others savage, this is one you don’t want to miss.”

–Corey Farrenkopf, author of Living in Cemeteries and Haunted Ecologies

Marketing Plan

National Publicity • Online and Print Features & Reviews • Indie Bookseller & Library Marketing Campaign • Advance Reader Copies • Early Reader Review Campaign • Influencer Campaign • Edelweiss & NetGalley DRC Campaigns • Email & Social Media Marketing

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781639512331
PRICE	$16.99 (USD)
PAGES	200

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Additional Information

Average rating from 11 members

Featured Reviews

Reviewer 398624

Because the book is a bit short, I won't reveal too much. The book follows Milo, who was born into a very religious family. Strange things happen in his childhood home, and one sibling after another dies from various illnesses.

I read this book in one day because I just wanted to know how it would end. It was a strange book, but it completely captivated me. It was a very easy read.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys strange books with horror elements about faith.

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Suzy R, Reviewer

Wow! This book is so good! If you enjoy books with religious horror, you’ll like this one. I read it super fast because I was so into it. The book is short so you can easily knock it out in one sitting.

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Mary G, Reviewer

Milo was once the youngest child in a happy, loving and large Catholic family. His father's auto mechanic business was next to the large house....a house something dark in one corner, the corner with "the chair". As Milo grows up he loses one sibling after another to mysterious illnesses while having recurring nightmares about a large caterpillar smoking a hookah pipe. He notices the corner with the chair grow darker and over the years a dark shape seems to form. His only surviving sibling, Marie, also notices the shape and the girl who wanted to be a nun begins to pray to it along with her parents.
Beware who or what you worship and don't inhale the evil.
As a dying old man Milo returns to the house to meet the evil face to face and to thwart cult leader Marie's plans to feed the house which gave her the power to be have others worship her and do her bidding,
#Inhalation is a very good tale of a family living and dying in the presence of evil and the youngest child's determination to ensure that the evil stops sucking the life off of living souls. Thank you #netgalley for this read.

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Thara R, Reviewer

WOW! This is a quick read but it packs a punch. I really grew to adore Milo, a man who exudes kindness and didn’t want to be a bother to anyone. The prologue and epilogue with 2 workers had me smiling and i’m pretty sure i’ll be quoting “brewskis at noonskies” for time to come.

The setting was beyond creepy, particularly in the later chapters, almost a physical manifestation of the evil that was occurring. Marie is an interesting character who I feel contradicts herself, although the purpose of this is well served.

I can’t speak on the plot too much because this is a book that should be read with absolutely zero spoilers. Go in blind and enjoy