The Quiet Ones: The Historian of Hollowmoor

By Lucifer Morningstar

The apocalypse wasn't a bang. It was a squishy, mushroomy "meh."

Welcome to the End Times (and Bureaucracy)

Humanity's last stand isn't against fire and brimstone, but against a whole lot of bad vibes and even worse fungus. In a world reclaimed by rot and memory, a handful of survivors in damp bunkers and silent towns are just trying to get by. And by "get by," we mean "perform glorified sanitation duties and pretend their lives aren't a bureaucratic nightmare."

Enter Vincent, a grumpy veteran who's seen it all and is probably still complaining about it. His latest mission: babysit a squad of misfits on a trip to the town of Maullll'tlock, where the buildings are so ashamed of their existence they're practically sagging, and the streets whisper forgotten truths that are probably just insults about your socks.

The Rot: Your New Life Coach (from Hell)

But Maullll'tlock holds a secret worse than bad architecture. It's the home of "the Rot," a sentient fungal network that's basically a life coach from hell. It doesn't want to kill you; it wants to rewrite your memories and give you a "happy ending" you didn't ask for. Think The Matrix, but instead of dodging bullets, you're dodging an aggressive spore that wants to give you a perfect life where you're a professional cat whisperer. The Rot's ultimate weapon is "the song," a psychic lullaby that forces listeners to relive their pasts the good, the bad, and that one time they accidentally called their boss "mom."

Vincent and his team, Junie, a pragmatic fighter who's probably seen enough of Vincent's grumbling for a lifetime; and Grebb, a poet who uses a "wind chime" to listen to the whispers of the dead (because, you know, every team needs a human ouija board) must fight to keep their memories and their sanity.

Crag: The Undead Secret Weapon

But their secret weapon? Crag. An undead, sarcastic former bank manager who's a walking war crime with a penchant for black humor and a bone whistle (seriously, don't ask about the bone whistle).

Crag's unique brand of sarcasm and his unsettling ability to remember the bureaucratic nightmares of his former life make him the perfect foil to the Rot's saccharine promises. He's an expert in dealing with soul-crushing drudgery, so he knows a beautiful lie when he sees one. As the Rot's song grows louder, Crag's cynical wit and his surprisingly useful bone whistle which, rumor has it, can summon an even older, grumpier kind of dead, might be the only thing standing between them and a perfectly curated, fungus-induced life.

Fight for Your Story

They face an impossible choice: surrender to a beautiful lie or fight for an ugly truth. Get ready for a darkly humorous, witty, and surprisingly emotional journey where a sarcastic corpse might just save the world with a well-timed joke and a bad memory. Because in this apocalypse, the one thing you can't afford to lose isn't your life it's your story.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FB922MB9
• ISBN13: 9798285089551
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"