SKIN OF THE LANTERN

Skin of the Lantern
By Israel Praize

In a remote fishing village where the wind smells of salt and secrets, a weathered lantern hangs in the window of an abandoned boathouse. Locals say its light burns without oil, without flame kept alive by the last breath of the woman who once owned it.

When archaeologist Mara Ellison arrives to catalog artifacts from the coastline, she dismisses the story as nothing more than a quaint superstition. But her first night in the village shatters that certainty. The lantern flickers to life on its own, casting strange shadows that whisper her name.

Drawn deeper into the mystery, Mara uncovers fragments of a diary, cryptic symbols etched in glass, and a hidden history of betrayal, ritual, and a curse that binds the living to the dead. Each answer only tightens the noose and each night the lantern burns brighter, peeling away her grip on reality.

To survive, Mara must decide whether to destroy the lantern, or wear its skin herself-forever becoming the light it hungers for.

A haunting blend of gothic suspense, folklore, and psychological thriller, Skin of the Lantern is a story of how far we'll go to hold onto love... and how deep the darkness runs when we refuse to let go.