St. Ulphia’s Dead
On a remote island gripped by reports 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.
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What would it take for a reasonable person to believe the impossible?
When researcher Mirs arrives on the remote island of St. Ulphia to investigate reports of an impossible outbreak of psychosis, he expects to uncover a rational explanation. Alongside his skeptical supervisor, Jo, he begins investigating a community whose increasingly unsettling stories seem to defy belief. Villagers disappear. Others return. Every explanation produces another contradiction.
As Mirs and Jo are drawn deeper into the island—and into each other’s lives—the questions driving their search begin to change.
Darkly comic, psychologically unsettling, and unexpectedly tender, St. Ulphia’s Dead begins as a literary mystery before becoming an exploration of the stories people rely on to make sense of the world.
Genre
Literary Fiction
Speculative Fiction
Psychological Mystery
Folk Horror
Publication
July 7, 2026
Publisher
Regal House Publishing
Formats
Hardcover
Softcover
eBook
Audiobook available soon
Pages
210
ISBN
978-1646037506
Praise for St. Ulphia’s Dead
Praise for St. Ulphia’s Dead
“A provocative philosophical novel about the desire to name and control the mysteries of the world—and the parallel inclination to become the ecstatic expression of human hunger.”
—Carolyn Cooke, author of The Bostons, Daughters of the Revolution, and Amor and Psycho“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“St. Ulphia’s Dead 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 reader
Explore St. Ulphia.
The mystery doesn’t end with the final page. Watch short conversations about the novel, a live performance of the funeral chapter, and explore book club resources, and further reading.
Essays & Conversations
Essays, interviews, reading lists, and conversations about books, storytelling, absurdity, belief, and the strange work of making meaning.
About Scott
Scott Lambridis writes literary speculative fiction about the stories people rely on to make sense of the world.
He studied neurobiology before earning an MFA in Fiction from San Francisco State University, an unlikely combination that continues to shape his work. His fiction explores belief, consciousness, trauma, and the strange places where psychology, folklore, and love begin to overlap.
Before publishing his debut novel, St. Ulphia’s Dead, Scott toured with a progressive rock band, founded an independent press and literary performance series, tended a forty-acre olive farm, and read a book from every country in the world. He lives in Bellingham, Washington, with his family.