Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

The epistolary form generally refers to any work of literature written to resemble a piece of text created by a character. Initially, epistolary literature took the form of correspondence exchanged by fictional characters. The Latin poetry collection Heroides (c. 25-16 BCE) by Ovid is a prominent early model for the first epistolary novels, as it presents each poem as a letter between a heroine and an absent lover. However, modern critics have extended the definition of the form to include other kinds of fictional documents, such as journal entries, newspaper articles, and even literary works (e.g., essays) authored by the characters themselves. A contemporary example that updates the original epistolary form for modern times is Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021) by Sally Rooney, in which the protagonists correspond via email.

Authors often use the epistolary form to add verisimilitude to a story. In the genre of horror literature, this can heighten the emotional effect of inspiring fear or dread. In horror stories that use speculative elements, the form’s insistence on the epistolary document’s genuineness can create greater emotional immersion. This is evident in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), which is universally acknowledged as one of the most successful attempts at epistolary horror. Stoker not only relied on letters to convey the novel’s plot, but also presented documents like ship logs, medical notes, and newspaper clippings to push the story forward. This drove an ominous sense of narrative momentum, suggesting that one could follow Dracula’s horrifying events only after they were recorded for the public record.

The epistolary form remains a popular approach in contemporary horror, in part owing to the influence of trends in adjacent arts, such as found footage in horror cinema. A year after the film The Blair Witch Project firmly established found footage as a horror subgenre, Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves (2000) was published, drawing parallels because it incorporated transcripts of found footage, among other found documents, into its text. More recent examples of contemporary epistolary horror include Horror Movie (2024) by Paul Tremblay, which features excerpts of a fictional screenplay, and Episode Thirteen (2023) by Craig DiLouie, which features interview transcriptions and website text. These examples show how the incorporation of new media as found documents can resonate with everyday experience, evoking the same thrills that Dracula brought to its first readers.

Devolution fits into this tradition because Brooks presents it as a nonfiction text. While Kate Holland’s journal entries drive most of the narrative, Brooks introduces excerpts from related texts to add layers of realism to Kate’s account. One of the novel’s peripheral tensions arises from the authenticity of Kate’s text, which stems from its discovery by a third party who believes that Kate’s encounters with the mythical Sasquatch are real. Brooks casts this third party as a ranger, a figure of authority regarding the natural world, which further increases the story’s veracity. Rather than let Kate’s narrative stand on its own, the book’s unnamed editor punctuates it by interspersing excerpted texts, from the various interview snippets to Steve Morgan’s The Sasquatch Companion, all of which help contextualize Kate’s account and support its authenticity. Aligning with Stoker’s tradition, these excerpts are likewise inventions of the author.