Carrion Dolls

In 1888 London, art requires sacrifice. But for Arthur Pendelton, the sacrifices are still warm.

Arthur Pendelton is a sculptor living in the shadow of Madame Tussaud, fighting for scraps of recognition in the grimy underbelly of Whitechapel. Desperate and destitute, he receives a lifeline: a secretive, lucrative commission from the enigmatic Lord Malgrave.

Malgrave is a collector of the macabre, a man who desires a private "Black Museum" of wax dioramas depicting the city's most recent and gruesome unsolved murders. To ensure absolute realism, he provides Arthur with "exclusive access" to the victims before the police arrive.

Blinded by ambition, Arthur descends into Malgrave's damp cellar to work. But as he sculpts wax over bone, the horrific truth begins to set: the "reference materials" aren't just found bodies. They are trophies. Arthur hasn't been hired to document history; he has been hired to immortalize the work of a monster. And when he discovers the secret ingredient mixed into his wax supply, he realizes that in Malgrave's gallery, the line between the statue and the corpse doesn't exist.

In Carrion Dolls, Vesper Blackwood weaves a chilling tale of gothic horror and obsession, where the pursuit of perfection leads straight to the grave.