Welcome to Scenic Sincoke…
Sincoke is the definition of a flyover city. It’s more of a ‘suburb plus,’ in the middle of a seemingly endless prairie, with no distinguishing features other than its crushing averageness. It is economically and culturally stagnant. Even the air is oppressive–dry and still. The citizens are poor, vulnerable, and most of all: listless. The remoteness of the city and the desperation of its citizens make it rife for exploitation by all manner of villains: crime bosses, cult leaders, white supremacists, paramilitary organizations, crooked tech entrepreneurs, oil barons, police gangs, and secret service operatives.
The Avia Investigative Detective Services (A.I.D.S….) is an organization of grizzled detectives who take on missing person cases pro bono. They’re lead by Dallas Avia, a former vicious gang leader. He’s out to redeem himself–sometimes by helping others, mostly by torturing himself.
The Unfuckers are a rag-tag group of spirited young people who want to ‘unfuck’ their fucked up city. They’re lead by Ellis Avia, a young man who grew up under extreme instability and neglect. His passion for helping people is infectious–but his righteousness frequently leads to danger.
Suave professionals and meddling kids conduct parallel investigations into horrific crimes, unbeknownst to one another. Their methods differ but their goals are the same: to pick up the slack where Sincoke has failed, and serve the people who fall through the cracks. Meanwhile those cracks deepen. Sincoke’s failures–economic, political, cultural, structural–grow worse by the day. Something is coming to Sincoke. There have been more windy nights, creating a susurrus in the eerily quietly prairie. People can only suffer so much boredom and misery.
Begin here, or pick up where you left off using the index.
Mass Hysteria is serialized, and new chapters will be released periodically. Novels in 19CE England were serialized, with several chapters being sold together in pamphlets. I think that’s a cool format, as I like the idea of eagerly waiting for the next chapter.
CW: Mass Hysteria grapples with mature subject matter. Expect violence, frank depictions of mental illness, and occasional mentions of human trafficking and SA. However, it is my intent to explore these subjects, not exploit them for cheap thrills and clicks. I want to treat them with the weight and gravitas they deserve, always with respect to suffering.
If you’re put off by this warning, I still encourage you to give Mass Hysteria a try. I think that art can help us grapple with real world horrors. Exposure to our triggers through media has the potential to be cathartic and healing. Shit, that’s partly why I’m writing this thing.
Mass Hysteria is a work of fiction. All resemblance to real world people or events are purely coincidental. 😉 😉 😉