Missing in Miskatonic by JP Behrens
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by AstilbeStep into the shadowed streets of 1928 Arkham, where Miskatonic University holds secrets darker than the night.
In this supernatural thriller reminiscent of Raymond Chandler and H.P. Lovecraft, Private Detective Travis Daniels is thrust into a harrowing investigation when a young woman disappears without a trace. As Daniels delves deeper into the labyrinthine mysteries of the storied New England city, he uncovers a web of sinister cults, ancient rituals, and eldritch horrors that threaten not only his own sanity but the fabric of reality itself.
Set against a city steeped in occult lore and clandestine experiments, Missing in Miskatonic blends elements of hard-boiled detective fiction with chilling supernatural encounters. Daniels navigates treacherous alliances and confronts malevolent entities lurking in the shadows, all while racing against time to unravel the truth behind the girl’s disappearance.
With a narrative that grips from the first page, this novella combines suspense, mystery, and cosmic terror in a gripping tale where every clue leads deeper into the abyss. From the enigmatic corridors of Miskatonic to the eerie gatherings of the Silver Twilight Lodge, Daniels must confront his own demons as he battles forces beyond human comprehension.
Mercy isn’t guaranteed.
Travis was an intelligent protagonist who made it impossible for me to stop rooting for him. I enjoyed seeing him push the boundaries of where he was supposed to go while he attempted to find out what happened to the missing girl. Every time someone thwarted his investigation, he doubled back and looked for a different way to gather clues, often while making others believe he might give up this time. He teetered on the edge of making risky decisions but never went so far that I thought he was overstepping or revealing his plan too early. This was a delicate balance to maintain at times, but it kept this cautious reader interested from beginning to end.
It would have been helpful to have stronger plot development in this piece. The setting was deliciously scary, but there wasn’t enough conflict to keep my interest levels high despite the fact that I was excited to read something inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s work. There was plenty of space here to add more details and flesh out the plot twists that were already included, and I would have happily gone for a higher rating if that had occurred. This was a world I didn’t want to stop reading about.
I enjoyed the dream-like qualities of many of the scenes whether they were subtle or overt. For example, the university was open for business and yet scarcely any students could be seen on campus. This was something that unnerved Travis – and honestly this reader as well – and yet the other characters behaved as if it were perfectly normal for a campus to be almost completely empty at what should have been one of its busiest times of the year. Later scenes at a local sanitarium were much more blatantly the stuff of nightmares, especially in the areas of that building that most visitors would not be allowed to explore, and I thought it was interesting to compare Travis’ reactions to them after seeing what he thought of the quieter signs that something was wrong with that community earlier on.
Missing in Miskatonic was moody and atmospheric in a good way. I look forward to reading any sequels to it that may be released in the future.