Husk
A Ritual in Ink
So, I am going to be releasing the first draft of the new book I am working on. Ha! Bet all of you have thought I just fucked off and forgot about all this. No, I have been working my ass off on my biggest project to date. It will be a found journal piece that is full of puzzles. Solving the puzzles will and codes will let you read more of the lore and short stories about the characters and the crazy cult they are in. I am going very hard on this one. Because of the full nature of the book, I think it needs to be a physical book. However, I am going to publish my drafts on here so y’all can look. Basically, y’all can tell me why it sucks, and you will basically get it for free in digital form. Also, all the art I am working on for it as well. I am just showing you the outline I am working with. If you are wondering where I’m at, I am up to chapter 8. I am looking forward to showing you my first draft, and I would love any constructive criticism you have.
# Husk, a Ritual in Ink - COMPLETE PROJECT REFERENCE
## I. CORE CONCEPT
A psychological horror novel presented as a found document, a journal, that works on multiple levels:
1. Surface level: Complete supernatural horror story
2. Puzzle level: Hidden codes and ciphers reveal deeper lore
3. Research level: Real-world crime connections
4. Meta level: Reading becomes part of ritual
## II. PRESENTATION FORMAT
- Found journal with police and seral killer annotations
- Handwritten entries with multiple styles
- Physical damage and manipulation elements
- Interactive puzzles and codes
- Police evidence format elaments
## III. COMPLETE NARRATIVE TIMELINE
### Opening Setup
- Narrator (24, male, virgin) becomes PCA ,personal care assistant, for Tommy Morehound
- Tommy is a confused Vietnam vet with dementia
- Initial mundane care situation
### Key Early Events
1. Discovery of hidden hard drive at Tommy littered with strange cryptographic messages.
2. Finding of 1924 play the King In Yellow
3. Sheriff Lambert’s deterioration
4. Fay’s Christmas light suicide
5. Apartment break-in
6. Tommy found bound
### Crisis Points
1. Cheryl/Cassilda revelation
2. Kim monster confrontation
3. Crown discovery
4. House fire
5. Motel hiding
### Climax Sequence
1. Assault on Frank
2. Kim’s death
3. Art exhibition infiltration
4. Ritual interruption
5. Tommy’s true identity revealed the actual leader of the cult, but with dementia took most of his memory of it
6. Monster turned on cult
7. Escape decision
## IV. CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER BREAKDOWN
### Chapter 1: The Patient
- Job beginning
- Character establishment
- Hard drive discovery
### Chapter 2: The Play
- King in Yellow introduction
- Lambert’s madness
- Faust Rights appears
### Chapter 3: Fay’s End
- Harker introduction
- Suicide scene
- Cult hints
### Chapter 4: Break In
- Apartment robbery
- Dr. Ponize’s call
- Tommy’s abuse
### Chapter 5: Cassilda
- Identity revelation
- Kim appears
- Violent confrontation
### Chapter 6: The Crown
- Basement discovery
- House fire
- Faust Rights loss
### Chapter 7: Frank
- Motel planning revenge
- Dean Corll connection
- Revenge plotting
### Chapter 8: Husk
- Phone hacking
- Assault planning
- Cult revelations
### Chapter 9: The Hunt
- Frank attack
- Kim’s death
- Exhibition discovery
### Chapter 10: The Exhibition
- Cult gathering
- Ritual beginning
- Heroes captured
### Chapter 11: The King
- Tommy’s revelation
- Monster turned
- Escape sequence
### Chapter 12: Yellow Sign
- Country escape
- Tommy dilemma
- Meta publication reveal
## V. KEY CHARACTERS & ARCS
### Tommy Morehound
- Surface: Confused elderly veteran
- Reality: Cult leader who stole crown
- Arc: Victim → Mystery → Revealed Leader
- Dementia both real and plot device
- Vietnam background crucial to history
- Final state: Protected by protagonists despite evil past
### Unnamed Narrator
- 24-year-old virgin PCA
- Socially isolated
- Arc: Innocent → Investigator → Survivor
- Transforms through supernatural exposure
- Ends as conflicted protector
### Harker
- Tech expert and failed special forces
- Widower seeking revenge
- Arc: Grieving → Vengeful → Ally
- Technical skills drive investigation
- Partners and buddy with narrator
### Officer Lambert
- Investigating detective
- Reads forbidden play
- Arc: Professional → Unstable → Converted
- Becomes publication vector
- Creates meta narrative by actual publishing book
### Frank
- Controls Kim through whistles
- Dean Corll connection = delta project = MK ultra
- Artis and exhibition organizer
- Cult high member
- Target of revenge
### Dr. Kay Ponize
- Therapist with hidden agenda
- Grooms narrator for sacrifice
- Becomes backup sacrifice
- Part of larger conspiracy
## VI. SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS
### The Crown
- Cold hammered copper with bone spikes
- Shows visions of alien worlds
- Reality-bending properties
- Central to cult power
- Tommy’s stolen artifact
### Kim
- Wolf-like monster actually a ghoul ala HP lovecraft.
- Controlled by whistles
- Immune to bullets
- Fears Faust Rights
- Eventually killed
### Faust Rights
- Supernatural Pekingese
- Name is anagram: “Hastur First Aim”
- Power over other entities
- Presumably dies in fire = not true
- Deeper connection to Hastur
## VII. META & INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS
### Physical Interaction
- Pages require manipulation
- Hidden messages in damage
- Time-specific readings
- Environmental integration
- Optical illusions
### Police Documentation Layer
Early: Professional notes
Middle: Growing concern
Late: Ritual instructions
Final: Publication manifesto
### Reader Effects
- Text movement Optical illusions
- Visual distortions
- Physical symptoms. Making the reader overly focused on their own body reactions.
- Environmental awareness
- Reality questioning
### Puzzle Types
- Military ciphers
- Dancing Man code
- Geographic coordinates
- Mathematical sequences
- Historical references
- Anagrams
- Visual patterns
- Flip book animations
## VIII. HORROR ELEMENTS
### Psychological Horror
- Reality distortion
- Memory uncertainty
- Paranoia development
- Reader complicity
- Mental deterioration
### True Crime Connection
- Dean Corll references
- Real locations
- Historical events
- Conspiracy elements
- Subtle implications
### Supernatural Horror
- King in Yellow mythology
- Hastur references
- Monster encounters
- Reality breaks
- Ritual magic
## IX. THEMATIC ELEMENTS
- Memory vs reality
- Knowledge as infection
- Truth vs perception
- Evil vs forgetfulness
- Forbidden knowledge
- Reader complicity
- Investigation as ritual
## X. PUBLICATION FORMAT
- Found document presentation
- Police evidence structure
- Interactive physical elements
- Reader manipulation devices
- Meta publication story