Randall Hayden Johnson

Charleston Eagle Randall Hayden Johnson

Charleston Eagle: The Butcher's Temple is a steampunk fable of gothic horror set in Charleston, South Carolina before, during, and immediately following the American Civil War. This psychological novel is based upon the Gullah legend of Dr. Heinrich Ryngo, better known as the Doctor to the Dead, a disgraced surgeon who believed that the medical arts were better served upon the dead, not the living. Ostracized by the medical professionals of his day, he retreats to his laboratory, self-isolating and self-medicating for a tragic descent into madness. He becomes, if nothing else, a serial killer of the highest order, and a Dr. Frankenstein who enjoys sex with his own creations. Presented as the ramblings of a former colleague trying desperately to make sense of his friend's fall from grace, Charleston Eagle: The Butcher's Temple weaves hoodoo, galvanism, alchemy, witchcraft, ghosts, angels, demons, conjuring, the Tantra, superhuman feats, and supernatural powers into an intriguing and sinister tale of mystery and imagination in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.