Shadows in the Hallway

The novel opens with a woman, haunted and hunted by supernatural "old friends", making a last, desperate stand in her rented home. She is a survivor of a notorious cult, The Temple of the Last Days, and has spent her life on the run, changing identities and homes, always pursued by the same relentless, otherworldly forces. The house is invaded by these presences, which manifest as physical and psychological horrors—scratching, thumping, and leaving behind inexplicable, ancient objects. In a final act of defiance and resignation, she takes her own life rather than let the darkness claim her, setting the tone for a story where the past is never truly dead, and the supernatural is inextricably linked to trauma and guilt.

The Cult's Dark Genesis

Kyle Freeman, a struggling documentary filmmaker, is hired by the enigmatic Max Solomon to make a film about The Temple of the Last Days, a cult infamous for its violent end in the Arizona desert in 1975. The cult's leader, Sister Katherine, is a British woman whose life is a patchwork of criminality, charisma, and spiritual manipulation. Max, who claims to have been involved in the cult's early days, offers Kyle a lucrative deal and unprecedented access to surviving members and locations. Kyle, desperate for money and meaning, is both skeptical and intrigued, sensing that the story is more than just true crime—it's a gateway to something darker and more inexplicable.

The Gathering's London Roots

The Temple began as The Last Gathering in London, a blend of apocalyptic Christianity, occultism, and countercultural therapy. Sister Katherine, once Hermione Tirrill, quickly seized control, transforming the group into a vehicle for her own power and spiritual ambitions. Early members, like Susan White (Sister Isis), describe a heady mix of communal living, renunciation of possessions, and intense psychological sessions designed to break down individuality. The group's practices grow increasingly authoritarian and abusive, with Katherine retreating into isolation and delegating control to her inner circle, The Seven. The seeds of paranoia, hierarchy, and spiritual exploitation are sown.

Renunciation and Control

Through interviews with survivors, the film crew uncovers the cult's methods: public confessions, enforced celibacy, sexual manipulation, and the systematic destruction of personal identity. Members are encouraged to sever all ties to the outside world, surrender their money, and submit to the will of Katherine and The Seven. Dissent is punished through exclusion, humiliation, and self-inflicted violence. The cult's London headquarters becomes a site of psychological and, eventually, physical torment, as the group prepares for a prophesied transformation—what Katherine calls "ascent."

Presences in the Walls

As the cult's practices intensify, members begin to report strange phenomena: presences in the house, inexplicable sounds, and shared visions of a mysterious refuge. These experiences are accompanied by physical manifestations—unexplained stains, foul odors, and the appearance of ancient, charred objects ("heavenly letters"). Survivors describe a growing sense of dread, as if the group has attracted or conjured something inhuman. The film crew, too, begins to experience these phenomena in the present day, suggesting that the cult's legacy is not just psychological but supernatural.

The French Schism

Driven by a collective vision, the cult relocates to a remote farm in Normandy, France. Ill-prepared for rural life, they endure starvation, disease, and increasing isolation. Katherine becomes more reclusive and despotic, and The Seven enforce her will with escalating cruelty. A schism erupts when some members rebel against her authority, leading to disappearances—adults and children vanish during a violent storm, never to be seen again. The survivors are left traumatized, and the group fractures, with the most loyal following Katherine to America.

Blood in the Desert

In the Arizona desert, the cult—now The Temple of the Last Days—occupies an abandoned copper mine. Katherine's teachings become more apocalyptic and her control more absolute. Children are separated from parents, and sexual and physical abuse become routine. The group is plagued by paranoia, drug use, and the belief that they are under siege by outside forces. The supernatural phenomena intensify: members report out-of-body experiences, shared visions of hellish landscapes, and the presence of "old friends"—entities that seem to feed on suffering and blood.

The Night of Ascent

The cult's story culminates in the infamous Night of Ascent. Police are called to the mine after reports of gunfire and strange lights. They find a scene of carnage: nine dead, including Katherine (beheaded), and five traumatized children. The survivors are mute or deeply disturbed. Evidence suggests a ritualistic mass murder-suicide, but the details are inexplicable—bite marks, missing blood, and the presence of ancient relics. The police and media attribute the violence to drugs and madness, but the testimonies of survivors hint at something far more sinister: a failed attempt at supernatural transformation, with the cult as both sacrifice and vessel.

Hauntings and Residues

As Kyle and his crew investigate the cult's history, they are drawn into a web of hauntings and physical manifestations. Former cult sites are plagued by inexplicable phenomena—sounds, smells, stains, and apparitions. Survivors are tormented by nightmares and visions, and some die under mysterious circumstances. The film crew themselves become targets, experiencing escalating supernatural attacks that mirror the cult's own descent. The boundaries between past and present, reality and nightmare, begin to blur.

Survivors and Testimonies

Kyle's interviews with survivors—Susan White, Brother Gabriel, Martha Lake, and others—reveal the deep psychological scars left by the cult. Many are isolated, addicted, or dead. Their stories are marked by guilt, complicity, and a sense of being forever marked by their experiences. They speak of Katherine's charisma and cruelty, the group's collective madness, and the inescapable sense that something was unleashed that cannot be put back. The testimonies are corroborated by physical evidence—artefacts, stains, and the recurring appearance of "heavenly letters."

The Film Crew's Descent

The film crew's journey mirrors the cult's own: what begins as a detached investigation becomes a personal ordeal. They are haunted by dreams, stalked by presences, and marked by the same supernatural phenomena that plagued the cult. One by one, they are picked off or driven mad. The project's original purpose—to document and expose—gives way to a desperate struggle for survival and understanding. The line between observer and participant is erased.

Manifestations and Madness

The supernatural elements escalate from suggestion to full manifestation. The Blood Friends—entities conjured by the cult's rituals—begin to physically intrude into the world, attacking and possessing the living. The film's evidence becomes undeniable: footage captures impossible events, and the crew is forced to confront the reality of what the cult unleashed. The narrative reveals that Sister Katherine's ultimate goal was not just power, but immortality through supernatural means—by transferring her consciousness into a child, aided by the Blood Friends.

The Kingdom of Fools

The story's climax is a revelation: the cult's rituals were not just delusions, but a reenactment of an ancient, recurring atrocity. Through a hidden triptych painting, Kyle learns of the Blood Friends' origins in a sixteenth-century French massacre, where a prophet named Lorche led his followers to destruction and damnation. The cult's fate is to be eternally devoured and mocked in a hellish "Kingdom of Fools," ruled by the Unholy Swine—a vision that haunts both the living and the dead. The cycle of abuse, power, and supernatural vengeance is shown to be endless.

The Final Confrontation

In a desperate bid to end the cycle, Kyle, Max, and a mercenary named Jed infiltrate the mansion of Chet Regal—a Hollywood star and the last vessel of Sister Katherine. The house is infested with the Blood Friends, and the trio must fight their way through supernatural horrors to reach Chet, who is in the process of transferring Katherine's consciousness into a new child. In a brutal, chaotic battle, Max and Jed are killed, and Kyle is left to confront the dying vessel and the child. He kills Chet/Katherine, but is left traumatized and uncertain if the cycle is truly broken.

The Price of Exposure

Kyle survives, but at a terrible cost. The evidence he has gathered is too horrific and unbelievable to be accepted by the authorities or the public. The survivors are dead, missing, or insane. The film, intended as an exposé, becomes a cursed object—too dangerous to show, too important to destroy. Kyle is left with the knowledge that the cycle may begin again, and that his own involvement has marked him forever. The story ends with a sense of ambiguity and dread: the past is never truly past, and the darkness unleashed by the cult continues to seek new vessels.

The Cycle Continues

The final chapter is a meditation on the persistence of evil, both human and supernatural. The Blood Friends, once conjured, cannot be banished—they linger in places of trauma, waiting for new hosts. The story of The Temple of the Last Days is revealed to be just one iteration of an ancient pattern: charismatic leaders, broken followers, and the unleashing of forces beyond comprehension. The film, and Kyle's own life, become warnings: some stories, once told, can never be untold, and some doors, once opened, can never be closed.

Characters

Kyle Freeman

Kyle is a documentary filmmaker whose desperation for meaning and financial survival draws him into the orbit of The Temple of the Last Days. Initially skeptical and detached, he is gradually consumed by the story he is investigating. His journey is both external (uncovering the cult's history) and internal (confronting his own fears, guilt, and complicity). Psychologically, Kyle is marked by a need for validation and a tendency to become obsessed with the stories he pursues. As the supernatural elements escalate, he becomes both a witness and a victim, ultimately forced to confront the limits of reason and the reality of evil. His development is a descent from observer to participant, from skeptic to believer, and finally to survivor—traumatized, isolated, and forever changed.

Maximillian Solomon

Max is the enigmatic executive producer who commissions Kyle's film. A former founding member of the cult, he is both a victim and a perpetrator—haunted by guilt, driven by self-preservation, and willing to use others to achieve his ends. Max is a master of rationalization, able to justify any action as necessary for the greater good or his own survival. His relationship with Kyle is fraught with manipulation, secrecy, and a shared sense of doom. Psychologically, Max embodies the dangers of charisma and the moral compromises of those who survive by any means. His ultimate fate is to be consumed by the very forces he sought to expose and control.

Sister Katherine (Hermione Tirrill)

Sister Katherine is the central figure of the cult—a woman whose life is a study in trauma, ambition, and spiritual hunger. She is both a product and a manipulator of her times, blending elements of Christianity, occultism, and self-help into a doctrine of absolute control. Psychologically, she is a malignant narcissist, capable of both charm and cruelty, and driven by a need for adoration and power. Her ultimate goal is not just leadership, but immortality—achieved through supernatural means and the sacrifice of her followers. Even in death, her influence endures, as she becomes the vessel for the Blood Friends and seeks reincarnation through new hosts.

Dan Harvey

Dan is Kyle's best friend and the film's cameraman. Practical, skeptical, and technically skilled, he serves as a grounding influence for Kyle. However, as the investigation deepens, Dan becomes increasingly unsettled and traumatized by the supernatural events. His skepticism is gradually eroded, and he is ultimately targeted by the same forces that haunt the cult's survivors. Dan's fate is a testament to the dangers of proximity to evil, and his relationship with Kyle is marked by loyalty, frustration, and shared trauma.

Susan White (Sister Isis)

Susan is one of the few surviving members of the cult's London phase. Eccentric, traumatized, and deeply marked by her experiences, she provides crucial testimony about the cult's early days. Her psychological state is fragile—oscillating between nostalgia, fear, and guilt. Susan's narrative reveals the seductive power of the cult and the lasting damage inflicted on its members. Her eventual death is both a release and a warning: some wounds never heal, and some stories are too dangerous to tell.

Brother Gabriel

Gabriel is another survivor of the cult's European phase, marked by anxiety, guilt, and a sense of being perpetually hunted. He is reluctant to share his full story, haunted by the presences he believes still pursue him. Gabriel's testimony is fragmented and evasive, reflecting both his trauma and his fear of retribution. His fate—mutilation and death—underscores the inescapability of the cult's legacy and the dangers of uncovering buried truths.

Martha Lake

Martha is the only adult survivor of the cult's final days in Arizona. Her life is a catalogue of loss, addiction, and regret. She is both a victim and a participant, complicit in the cult's abuses and haunted by the knowledge of what was unleashed. Martha's testimony is raw, emotional, and deeply affecting—she is a woman who has lost everything but the truth. Her eventual murder by supernatural forces is the final silencing of the cult's living memory.

Jed

Jed is the hired gun brought in for the final assault on Chet Regal's mansion. He is pragmatic, ruthless, and largely indifferent to the moral complexities of the situation. Jed represents the limits of violence as a solution—his skills are ultimately no match for the supernatural forces at play. His fate is to be consumed, both literally and figuratively, by the evil he is enlisted to fight.

Chet Regal

Chet is a Hollywood star and the final vessel for Sister Katherine's consciousness. Raised in privilege but marked by addiction, violence, and scandal, he is both a victim and an embodiment of the cult's legacy. Psychologically, Chet is a cipher—his identity is subsumed by Katherine's will, and his life is a reenactment of her ambitions and cruelties. His death is both an exorcism and a warning: evil, once unleashed, seeks new hosts.

The Blood Friends

The Blood Friends are the true antagonists of the story—entities conjured by the cult's rituals, feeding on suffering, blood, and the destruction of innocence. They are both a metaphor for and a literal manifestation of the cycle of abuse, power, and spiritual corruption. Their presence is marked by physical and psychological phenomena—stains, smells, dreams, and possessions. They are eternal, adaptable, and always seeking new openings into the world.

Plot Devices

Documentary Structure and Found Footage

The novel is structured as a documentary investigation, with Kyle and his crew serving as both narrators and participants. This device allows for a blending of past and present, testimony and experience, and creates a sense of immediacy and authenticity. The use of interviews, location shoots, and found footage blurs the line between reality and fiction, drawing the reader into the story's escalating horrors. The structure also serves as a commentary on the dangers of exposure—some stories, once uncovered, cannot be contained.

Foreshadowing and Recurrence

The narrative is rich with foreshadowing: dreams, visions, and shared experiences hint at the cycle of violence and supernatural intrusion that defines the cult's history. The recurrence of motifs—stains, "heavenly letters," presences, and the Kingdom of Fools—reinforces the idea that the past is never truly past. The story's structure mirrors the cult's own descent, suggesting that some patterns are inescapable and that evil, once unleashed, will always seek new forms.

Unreliable Testimony and Fragmented Truth

The novel relies on the testimonies of survivors, each marked by trauma, guilt, and the passage of time. Their stories are fragmented, contradictory, and often unreliable—reflecting both the psychological damage inflicted by the cult and the impossibility of fully understanding what happened. This device creates a sense of ambiguity and dread, as the reader is forced to piece together the truth from incomplete and often disturbing evidence.

Supernatural Manifestation as Psychological Metaphor

The supernatural elements of the story—presences, stains, possessions—function both as literal horrors and as metaphors for the lasting impact of trauma, abuse, and complicity. The boundaries between psychological and supernatural are deliberately blurred, suggesting that some wounds are so deep they become real, and that evil, once internalized, can never be fully exorcised.

The Unreliable Narrator and Meta-Narrative

Kyle's role as narrator and filmmaker creates a meta-narrative: the act of documenting, exposing, and interpreting becomes both a means of understanding and a source of danger. The story questions the ethics of investigation, the limits of reason, and the price of bearing witness. The film, intended as a tool of truth, becomes a cursed object—too dangerous to show, too important to destroy.

Analysis

Last Days is a modern horror novel that explores the intersection of cult psychology, supernatural evil, and the dangers of bearing witness. Through its documentary structure and layered testimonies, the book interrogates the nature of charisma, the cycle of abuse, and the persistence of trauma—both personal and collective. The cult at its center is both a product of its time and a timeless pattern: a charismatic leader, broken followers, and the unleashing of forces beyond comprehension. The supernatural elements serve as both literal horrors and metaphors for the inescapability of the past; the Blood Friends are the embodiment of evil that adapts, survives, and seeks new hosts. The novel is also a meditation on the ethics of storytelling—what it means to expose, to investigate, and to become implicated in the stories we tell. Ultimately, Last Days is a warning: some doors, once opened, can never be closed, and some stories, once told, can never be untold. The cycle of evil, once set in motion, endures—waiting for the next opening, the next witness, the next victim.

Last updated: June 20, 2025