“With his debut novel, Rollinson taps into our cultural fears with a cosmic tale both timely and relevant as well as a homage to the work of Robert W. Chambers.”
Circa 1984, Salvatore Archimboldi, exiled author, enlists a psychotherapist to assist writing his new book. Archimboldi plans to turn his traumatic memories into literary genius. The book, The Truth of Carcosa, is actually pure evil, and a horrified Archimboldi pulls the tome from publication, and wills all traces, copies, and correspondence of the book to be completely destroyed.
Now, years after Archimboldi’s death, the only place anyone can learn anything about the writer is the Archive for Literary Investment, or ALI for short. There, a biographer and his protégée scour through Archimboldi’s vast correspondence searching for hints of the cursed manuscript before unscrupulous firms land on the book with their own plans.
Why is the Archive desperate to preserve the book?
Why are so many people searching for any information about the manuscript?
What are the strange monsters that appear with any signs of the book?
And who—or what—is the Yellow King?
Why we’re excited about this book:
Jacob Rollinson is one of the new kids on the block in the cosmic horror fiction scene. Rollinson is the author of Late King in Yellow Woods (2021). With his debut novel, Rollinson taps into our cultural fears with a cosmic tale both timely and relevant as well as a homage to the work of Robert W. Chambers. Tobias Carroll (Political Sign, In the Sight) says: “Rollinson may have cracked the code to discover how to find cosmic horror’s future in its surreal history.”, Dan Kois (Hampton Heights) says: “In Jacob Rollinson’s ambitious debut, a dark and chthonic power seeks to bring about hell on earth—but haven’t you noticed that hell is already here? The Truth of Carcosa is of its moment and eternal, suspenseful and inevitable, inhuman and deeply humane. Read it while the flames draw closer.”, and Cynthia Pelayo (Vanishing Daughters, Loteria) says: “Dark, elegant, and relentless, The Truth of Carcosa is dossier-horror at its finest—intimate, dangerous, and urgently of now. Rollinson presents a bold, lyrical, and unforgettable tale.”
Releasing from Union Square & Co. 13 January 2026, The Truth of Carcosa by Jacob Rollinson is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
