St. Ulphia’s Dead
On a remote island gripped by an outbreak of possession, two mismatched researchers search for reason amid the impossible.
Their investigation becomes a darkly comic descent into belief, madness, and the stories we invent to survive.
Available summer 2026
Book details
Disgraced medical researcher Mirs and his skeptical new supervisor Jo arrive on the remote island of St. Ulphia to investigate an outbreak of mass psychosis. The villagers claim they’re being possessed—one by one—by a cannibalistic demon known as the Wendigo.
While unraveling the villagers’ strange tales, Mirs and Jo are drawn into a tangle of local politics, mysterious disappearances, and impossible contradictions. When the missing begin to reappear, the boundaries between fact and folklore become dangerously thin. As tensions rise and trust fractures, Mirs and Jo must confront the possibility that the madness around them may not be entirely imagined—or may not be the villagers’ alone.
A psychological mystery laced with absurd humor, St. Ulphia’s Dead explores how trauma warps truth, how isolation breeds belief, and how the most terrifying demons are the ones we conjure for ourselves.
Genre
Literary Fiction
Magical Realism
Mystery
Folk Horror
Publication Date
July 7, 2026
Publisher
Regal House Publishing
Early Praise
Early Praise
“St. Ulphia’s Dead is as propulsive as it is exquisitely written, and unlike any other love story I’ve ever encountered. A wild, unexpected, and darkly comic ride, highly recommended to anybody with a beating heart.”
—Peter Orner, author of The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter“A sociomedical mystery and ontological adventure bristling with satiric energy, dramatic irony, and romance. Provocative to think about, and great fun to read.”
—Jennifer duBois, author of The Last Language“In St. Ulphia’s Dead, Scott Lambridis deftly weaves together absurdity and humor with the weighty issues of life, death, and love. In this ingenious novel, nothing is as it appears, including the mere fact of existence. A delightful and wildly inventive debut!”
—Laurie Ann Doyle, award-winning author of World Gone Missing: Stories“Like a bowerbird, Lambridis sculpts a story from bits of cultural anthropology, murder mystery, obscure definitions and romance; all woven together with a ribbon of magical realism.
Loved it so much I read it twice and both times I cried at the end.”
—Jessica Nersesian, uncommonly voracious readerBlog Highlights
About the author
Scott Lambridis is a Bellingham-based writer and neurobiology lover whose fiction explores the strange edges of perception, time, and consciousness. His work has appeared in Slice, Fence, and The Café Irreal, and he earned his MFA from San Francisco State University. He once ran an indie press, toured with a progressive rock band, tended an olive farm, read a book from every country of the world, and wrote his debut novel during his daughter’s naps in France.