The Boddicker Letters, by A.C. Cross

The Boddicker Letters is a standalone epistolary horror novel, inspired by Lovecraftian myths, written by A.C. Cross. With a particular narrative style that remembers in some sections to Dracula, we revive the travel of Titus Boddicker to investigating a mysterious vanishing in the city of Innsmouth through the letters he sent to his dear Luisa.

From the start, we can smell something wrong is happening in Innsmouth; Titus is just the spectator of things that are certainly strange, and the charming person that is trying to hire him to check some contracts is too much. Titus' mind is constantly moving between staying in Innsmouth and returning close to her dear, but Innsmouth has a magnetism you can't explain. Titus is slowly subsumed in that dark element that comes from a higher power, and through his letters, we will become spectators of his demise.

Cross skillfully weaves the immensity of Lovecraftian myths with the insignificance of the characters, a common trait shared across these stories; from the start, we can see small hints of what is planned for Titus, and how his mind has that kind of configuration that seems to be favoured by those creatures that plague this mythology. When the big revelations are done, we are not exactly surprised.

Despite being a relatively short novel, Cross' worldbuilding was quite extensive, developing over what became a classic setting in the literature; with a single POV, the image we get from Innsmouth is just pure decadence and terror. A place that is dying and that only a dark power can bring back.

The Boddicker Letters will fill that horror crave that you had; a perfect example of a modern epistolary novel. A.C. Cross has proven himself as a competent horror writer; and hopefully, we see him exploring more on this genre.