St. Ulphia's Dead
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Pub Date Jul 7 2026 | Archive Date Jul 14 2026
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Description
Disgraced medical researcher Mirs and his skeptical new supervisor Jo arrive on the remote island of St. Ulphia to investigate an outbreak of mass psychosis. The villagers claim they’re being possessed—one by one—by a cannibalistic demon known as the Wendigo.
While unraveling the villagers’ strange tales, Mirs and Jo are drawn into a tangle of local politics, mysterious disappearances, and impossible contradictions. When the missing begin to reappear, the boundaries between fact and folklore become dangerously thin. As tensions rise and trust fractures, Mirs and Jo must confront the possibility that the madness around them may not be entirely imagined—or may not be the villagers’ alone.
A psychological mystery laced with absurd humor, St. Ulphia’s Dead explores how trauma warps truth, how isolation breeds belief, and how the most terrifying demons are the ones we conjure for ourselves.
A Note From the Publisher
9781646037513
Advance Praise
“Whimsical and philosophical by turns, Scott Lambridis’ deft debut transports readers to the far-flung island of St. Ulphia, where cannibalistic locals claim an evil spirit is possessing them one by one like some deadly game of whack-a-mole. Waiting for the dreaded Wendigo to pop up again, two Western investigators fight their own demons as well as their own carnal desires for one another. Both a rollicking adventure and a subtle meditation on mental illness, St. Ulphia’s Dead is seriously hysterical.” —Yance Wyatt, author of The Watersmith
“Energetic, surprising and full, St. Ulphia's Dead brims with humour and invention. A wonderful debut.” —Oisín Fagan, author of Eden’s Shore
"A wholly original whirlwind of a novel where science and rationale knock up against the stuff of the fantastical. Heartfelt and engrossing, St. Ulphia’s Dead artfully explores the nature of love and what it means to be alive. A real knock-out piece of writing!" —Matthew Iribarne, author of Astronauts & Other Stories
“In his dark, satirical, and markedly original novel, St. Ulphia’s Dead, Scott Lambridis shines a fiery light on the mysteries of human relationships and the politics of scientific research. Through skillful shifts in perspective, Lambridis provides access to the thoughts, fears, and desires of his central characters, Mirs and Jo, who are investigating an extraordinary psychosis that is ravaging the island of St. Ulphia. Throughout the novel, there is a persistent, enchanting tension between seemingly opposite extremes—horror and love, humor and tragedy, science, madness, and magic. In implicit and explicit ways, the novel asks how these polarities “exist at once?” In the confident hand of Scott Lambridis, the enigmas are examined in captivating depth, delivered to readers with a satirical edge and a deeply human heart. The events that drive St. Ulphia’s Dead will resonate in the minds of readers long after the final, evocative page has turned.” —Aaron Tillman, author of Lucy Miles’ Photogenic Mind and Consolation Miracles
"St. Ulphia’s Dead is alive with lush, electric strangeness. Otherworldly and gloriously resistant to categorization, Lambridis’s debut burns through the limits of what we think we know, leaving something wild in its wake." —Brittany Micka-Foos, author of It’s No Fun Anymore
“St. Ulphia’s Dead is as propulsive as it is exquisitely written, and unlike any other love story I’ve ever encountered. A wild, unexpected, and darkly comic ride, highly recommended to anybody with a beating heart.” —Peter Orner, author of The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter
"Drawing on the traditions of science fiction, folk horror, and the literary ghost story, but with the sensibilities and lyrical style of the best magical realism, St. Ulphia’s Dead is a detective story that becomes more mysterious rather than less as the investigation progresses, and the detectives gradually learn that the true mystery is within themselves." —Bradshaw Schift, author of The Parliament of Mice: A Fable
“The dead never tell the truth about themselves. St. Ulphia’s Dead begins as a mystery and turns into a provocation, asking us to question our most fundamental moral assumptions. Daring, inventive, and transgressive, it is also romantic—and deeply joyful." —Olga Zilberbourg, author of Like Water and Other Stories
"Welcome to St. Ulphia! Here you will meet a cast of strange and magnetic characters circling around a compelling central mystery. Your stay on the island will be eerie, unsettling, intriguing, amusing, and ultimately heartwarming. As you learn the fantastical true secrets of the island and its inhabitants, you'll come to realize that the greatest mystery is in the connections between people, the way we understand each other, and the ways we love." —Ben Black, AGNI Assistant Fiction Editor
"A sociomedical mystery and ontological adventure bristling with satiric energy, dramatic irony, and romance. Provocative to think about, and great fun to read." —Jennifer duBois, author of The Last Language
"Shocking, immersive, and compulsively readable, St. Ulphia’s Dead is a fascinating look at how we process our darkest experiences, and who we rely on to help us survive them." —Martha Conway, author of We Meet Apart
"In St. Ulphia’s Dead, Scott Lambridis deftly weaves together absurdity and humor with the weighty issues of life, death, and love. In this ingenious novel, nothing is as it appears, including the mere fact of existence. A delightful and wildly inventive debut!" —Laurie Ann Doyle, award-winning author of World Gone Missing: Stories
"Scott Lambridis brings us a provocative philosophical novel about the desire to name and thus control the mysteries of the world—and about the parallel inclination to become the ecstatic expression of human hunger." —Carolyn Cooke, author of The Bostons, Daughters of the Revolution, and Amor and Psycho
"ST. ULPHIA’S DEAD follows the trials of two mismatched investigators from a mysterious medical corporation as they try to unearth the secrets of The Wendigo—a giant screaming creature with a tendency to kill and devour the ones it most loves. Is the Wendigo real? Is the isolated African island of St. Ulphia real? Are the villagers—a motley assortment of Spanish, French, Aleutian, Haitian, and Venezuelan inhabitants, real? Are the investigators themselves —a skeptical young woman and an enthusiastic young man, real? A dark and richly imagined story, with some sweet surprises." —Molly Giles, author of LIFE SPAN
Marketing Plan
Appearances, events, and tour information
Series of events in Bellingham, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay Area, composed of individual readings/signings, panel discussions, and reviving the Action Fiction literary performance series (formerly hosted in the SF Bay Area for a number of years, successfully), in which local actors perform short works by local writers.
Faculty at the Chuckanut Writers Conference, hosting 2 sessions
SFSU creative writing class visit on 4/28
Chuckanut Writers in Bellingham: The Serious Business of Being Silly (panel) on 6/26
Chuckanut Writers in Bellingham: Action Fiction on 6/27
Action Fiction @ New Prospect Theatre in Bellingham on July 7 (launch day)
Reading/signing at Ada's Books in Seattle on July 13
Elliott Bay Booksellers in Seattle: The Serious Business of Being Silly (reading, signing, panel) on July 14
Village Books in Bellingham: The Serious Business of Being Silly (reading, signing, panel) on July 25
Coordinating events in the San Francisco Bay Area at Books Inc, Green Apple, Keplers Books, Borderlands, Fabuloso Books
SF State CW Department "The Business of Creative Writing" visit in the fall
Promotional plans
Focusing on engaging individual readers deeply through direct conversation
Blurbs by well-known authors (see below for sample, acquired over 20 so far)
Nurturing connections with existing book clubs and coordinating readers to host intimate local salons
Outreach to and exposure from personal and professional networks
Personal affiliations (University of Virginia alumni network, San Francisco State University, San Francisco Community of Writers, Theta Chi Fraternity, San Francisco Writers Workshop)
Lit journals where I've been published (Painted Bride, Fence, Sequestrum)
Other literary arts orgs (Hugo House, Page Street Writers)
Local public libraries
English and Creative Writing departments for visits and collaborations (Western Washington, University of Washington, Seattle University)
Psychology and Anthropology departments and organizations (NAMI Whatcom, UW, USCF, Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture, UC Berkeley, Seattle University, Columbia Narrative Medicine Program, and more)
Awards -- targeting first novel, magical realism, and horror-adjacent awards
Bookseller advocacy -- completed interviews with 10 local/indie bookstores (publication forthcoming by RHP), which has led to them reading ARCs to promote the book internally, plan events, seller picks, book club advocacy, etc
Drip campaign of preorder perks for early readers
Extensive outreach to podcasts, reviewers, influencers for coverage, ongoing.
Social media promotions
Nurturing an active monthly newsletter and blog
Features in local media (example: recent feature in the Cascadia Daily News)
Bi-weekly social media posting, with topics including book features (news, articles, blurbs, behind-the-scenes, countdowns), reading (top 10, highlights, ghosts of Kafka series, around-the-world reading), supporting other authors (blurbs, events, reviews),
Producing an intimate author interview series with local filmmaker (to be released in May)
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781646037506 |
| PRICE | $19.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 210 |
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 12 members
Featured Reviews
Casey O, Librarian
I received this ARC as a Librarian through Netgalley.
St. Ulphia’s Dead had me hooked from the start. It’s folk horror from the perspective of socio-medical researchers visiting a small, insulated village on a remote island. When the villagers have a resurgence of “Wendigo Psychosis,” or the insatiable desire to consume human flesh, often one’s own family.
The story was methodical, and the narrating characters are scientists trying to prove, or disprove, the existence of the psychosis. I knew from the start that the author had some background in the social or medical sciences, and he in fact is a neurobiologist!
I loved this. I think anyone interested in anthropology, sociology, culture, cultural-bound conditions, and folklore will love this.
Melissa B, Reviewer
Wendigo folklore read. Good story and interesting and entertaining read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!!!
Reviewer 142279
This literary horror novel combines unsettling imagery with thoughtful storytelling. The atmosphere is beautifully crafted, creating a lingering sense of dread that builds throughout the book. While the pacing is deliberate, the payoff is well worth it.
Reviewer 1154851
****POSSIBLE SPOILERS****
REVIEW: My first few forays into this books first chapters were tentative and choppy. Then, around chapter 12, things changed. From chapter 12 to the end, I read this in two, back to back sittings.
I’ll be honest that some of this book went over my head and some of the interior thoughts of the main characters seemed a tad foolish.
The mystery was good but the commentary on life, death and freedom was what made me rate this so high.
This premise isn’t a new one but how it turned out is. This quote from towards the end perfectly sums up the meaning I inferred from this book: “Everywhere else they’re so attached to life that they’re obsessed with death. Here they just live.”
I would say if you read the book synopsis or either of these quotes and find any part of it/them interesting, to go ahead and read the book. You get a more thoughtful and literary commentary than you might expect at first glance at the synopsis.
I’m definitely following this author!
QUOTE: “Life doesn’t escalate smoothly, thought Jo, or in a clear line of action and consequence; it lurches forward in spurts and gasps, and only after some non-pivotal moment do you realize you’d arrived some time ago onto a new plateau of life. You only need a break from ritual to realize it, but the precise moment of shift remains a mystery. No, she thought, we don’t know ourselves as well as we think we should, and maybe that’s better than knowing ourselves too well.”
Reviewer 318610
"St. Ulphia’s Dead" has the energy of a graduate thesis getting possessed in real time. You start out thinking you’re reading a creepy little folk horror mystery about a possible Wendigo outbreak on a remote island, and then suddenly everyone is debating reality, trauma, desire, consciousness, and whether science is just gaslighting with paperwork. Meanwhile I’m sitting there trying to remember who disappeared, who reappeared, and which emotionally repressed researcher is currently having a philosophical breakdown in a hallway.
Mirs and Jo arrive on St. Ulphia to investigate what’s supposedly a case of mass psychosis, which already feels like the world’s least relaxing business trip. The villagers insist they’re being possessed one by one by a cannibalistic demon, and honestly the villagers have the confidence of people who know they are absolutely ruining your LinkedIn skill set. You can practically feel Jo trying to hold onto rational thought with both hands while Mirs keeps wandering emotionally into traffic.
The first chunk of this book absolutely tested me. Not because it’s bad, but because it throws names, perspectives, theories, and weird little existential side quests at you like it’s trying to emotionally concuss you before the plot settles down. I spent a good while reading with the exact same energy as someone nodding during a conversation they stopped understanding twenty minutes ago. But then somewhere around the middle, the whole thing clicks into place and suddenly you’re locked in, slightly sweaty, and deeply invested in these disaster academics stumbling through island horror like two people who absolutely should not flirt during a demonic investigation and yet here we are.
And weirdly, the emotional stuff works best when the book stops trying so hard to sound profound and just lets the characters be sad little freaks together. Mirs especially has this constant undercurrent of shame and desperation that makes him exhausting but also painfully human. He’s the kind of guy who thinks one more intellectual breakthrough will finally fix the hole in his chest, which unfortunately is not how being alive works. Jo, meanwhile, feels like someone who learned a long time ago that if she keeps moving and analyzing and staying practical, maybe nothing can actually touch her. Which is of course exactly the kind of mindset a haunted island loves to eat for breakfast.
The Wendigo stuff rules, by the way. Not in a clean, straightforward horror novel way, but in that slippery “is this supernatural or is everyone collectively unraveling?” kind of way that makes every interaction feel a little infected. The island itself starts to feel less like a setting and more like a psychological hostage situation. Every conversation has this underlying vibe of, “What if none of us are perceiving reality correctly?” which is fun in books and less fun during family holidays.
What I appreciated most is that underneath all the surreal horror and philosophical chaos, the book is really about people trying to survive themselves. It keeps circling back to loneliness, grief, shame, and the stories we invent so life feels less random and cruel. There’s a genuinely beautiful idea buried in all the madness about how humans need meaning almost as badly as they need each other, even when both of those things completely wreck them. Then five pages later someone’s talking about demon possession again and your brain has to switch tracks like a subway conductor having a panic attack.
I do think the ending arrives a little too fast considering how much heavy lifting the setup demands. This book spends a lot of time carefully building its strange little philosophical horror dollhouse, then suddenly starts sprinting toward the finish line like it remembered it left the oven on. I wanted maybe one or two more chapters to really let the emotional fallout settle because some of the ideas hit harder than the resolution itself.
Still, this is a solid three star read for me because even when it frustrated me, I was never bored. And honestly? I respect a book that swings this hard. "St. Ulphia’s Dead" is strange, messy, funny, ambitious, occasionally up its own ass, but also weirdly sincere in a way that won me over. It feels like if "Annihilation" and "Scooby-Doo" got trapped in a philosophy department together and somehow developed real feelings.
Whodunity Award: For Making Me Question Science, Reality, And Whether HR Approved This Research Trip
Huge thank you to Regal House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC, because apparently my reward for reading responsibly is being psychologically waterboarded by sexy academic demon folklore.
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