Alchemy of Secrets

The novel’s interludes are told in the second person. On a rainy night, you follow a rumor to a shuttered movie theater for a secret class called Folklore 517. The lobby is frozen in time, and the auditorium holds only a few students. After the etiquette slides flicker on the screen, the lights and all phones die. Some students leave during the darkness, but you wait.

A stage light snaps on to reveal an elderly academic. She introduces herself as the Professor and says, “You’re here because of a story… Now I’m going to tell you another one” (4). The class begins.

During a date, graduate student Holland St. James spots a poster that reminds her of the Watch Man, an urban myth from her Folklore 517 class, which is taught by a woman who goes only by the title of the Professor. Noticing a shop called Curios & Clockwork, Holland feels compelled to enter and leads her date, Jake, inside. Although she remembers the Professor’s rule never to discuss the content of the Folklore 517 classes, she decides to trust Jake and explains the urban legend of the Watch Man, a mysterious figure who tells people when they will die.