The Darkest Part Of Midnight; ONC 2024

A dark family lineage. Secrets hidden away within rotting walls. And a mysterious Book that binds it all together...

Oliver Wendell was only ever meant to write stories, lost within his own worlds of imagination. He was never meant to be a soldier. He was never meant to see his brother die. Yet in the midst of the first World War he finds himself caught within the wreckage of both grief and carnal destruction that has torn such worlds away.
Seeking refuge from it all, the disgraced boy soldier hides himself away within the decaying seaside manor of his grandparents-- finding there a mysterious and unfinished book that has reignited his passion for the written word.
Yet amidst the house's ancient bones lay the unexplainable, and beneath its foundations lay unimaginable horrors waiting to be awakened with a few strokes of a writer's pen...

Written for ONC 2024 using prompt 66; A grim fairytale is unfolding before your eyes. As its author, it's up to you to put an end to this nightmare.
And prompt 5; Horror is in the eye of the beholder.

CW; This book contains graphic scenes, descriptions of war and PTSD, and details of eldritch horror. It is intended for readers ages 16 and up.