Possessed

About this book

Cleveland Moffett’s Possessed is a speculative tale that blends early‑twentieth‑century occult intrigue with war‑time drama. The narrative opens with a self‑conscious authorial note insisting that the story’s “dual personality phenomena” and other supernatural episodes are drawn from real experiences, from a New York doctor who cures by occult means to a medium named Seraphine who delivers a chilling prophecy. The first scene places a group of bohemian New Yorkers in a Washington Square apartment, where a seance triggers a vision of scarlet lights and foretells the tragic fate of Penelope Wells, a nurse whose husband dies, who later serves in France and earns a medal for bravery. The opening therefore establishes a framework of personal testimony, prophecy, and the psychological fallout of war, setting the stage for a series of episodes that explore possession, terror, and the hidden lives of women.

The prose reflects the ornate, dialogue‑heavy style of pre‑World War I magazines, with a narrator who frequently addresses the reader directly and a tone that oscillates between earnest reportage and melodramatic confession. Its period diction and focus on spiritualism, gender debates, and the lingering trauma of combat will appeal to readers who enjoy vintage speculative fiction that probes the boundaries between science, mysticism, and social commentary, especially those fascinated by the cultural atmosphere of Greenwich Village in the 1910s.