“There aren’t that many good horror writers, and Campbell isn’t just good. He’s outstanding.” — Stephen King
Simon is a former film critic, a man without work, prospects, and a profession, because the magazine where he was the chief editor was found guilty of libel.
When Simon receives an offer from a university to write a book about a forgotten silent-film era actor, he grabs the last chance to save his career. Especially since the material is fascinating: Tabby Thackeray is a clown whose performances, people say, would literally make people die of laughter.
A comedian whose films—once shown on par with the works of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton—vanished almost without a trace, as if someone had made a deliberate effort to destroy them.
Simon begins collecting information piece by piece from closed archives, at strange circus shows, and even in a porn studio. But the further he goes with his investigation, the more his life turns into a terrifying nightmare from which it seems there is no escape… After all, Tabby was forgotten not just by accident—and his legacy is tied to something far older than cinema: something incredibly dangerous and insane.