YA Horror Graphic Novel
Light of the Lost
Creator & Writer: K.M. Rocheleau
Artist: Sarah Fletcher
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horror for young adults
(and anyone who believes music = magic)
Two star-crossed families with unique supernatural legacies
A cursed town on Maine’s coast
An eldritch evil that feeds on pain and memory
An otherworldly island with untold secrets
Gothic mansions & guardian ghosts
Undead bad boys & immortal kisses
The healing power of music
Meet the Characters
Louisa Jones is caught between the living, the dead, and two feuding families blessed with supernatural powers to protect a secret at the dark heart of a small Maine town.
Lou
There are many stories the citizens of Brave Boat Harbor whisper about Louisa Jones. Gifted musician. Daughter of famous rockstar Declan Jones. Survivor of the shooting at Sterling Prep. The girl who claims to see ghosts. What the townspeople don’t know is that Lou’s ability to communicate with the dead is the only thing that can save their lives.
JD
This sexy, enigmatic new guy in town knows a secret about the day Lou’s father died. A secret that could save others from a monster that feeds on pain and memory. The dangerous, electric connection he shares with Lou could free him from a fate worse than death…or chain him to the town’s cursed past.
When an undead monster attacks her harbor town, a newly sober teen musician must face the pain of her past and embrace her terrifying paranormal powers to free captured souls—including her murdered father’s—from a prison dimension connected to an otherworldly island and her town’s cursed history.
second chances
Welcome to Brave Boat Harbor, Maine, a town built on secrets and fueled by folklore. Its most well-protected secret? Roaring Rock, the island just off its coast, harbors doors to other worlds, including the Other Side, the realm of the dead. Eighteen-year-old musician Lou Jones should know. She spent her childhood running from hungry ghosts who feed on her energy. Drinking used to drown out the dead. Now, fresh out of rehab and reeling from the murder of her rockstar father, Lou dreams of attending Berklee College of Music so she can finish her album and escape the ghosts of her past.
Secret legacies
But when an umbra, a shapeshifting, pain-eating monster, attacks her godmother, severs her soul, and leaves her body in a coma, Lou becomes the guardian of Verlaine, her godmother’s gothic estate, and Roaring Rock Island. The inheritance includes a mysterious package containing her father’s last album, a book of unpublished stories—a secret history of the town—and a letter warning Lou not to trust any adult born in Brave Boat Harbor.
curses & cages
Lou seeks answers but instead finds JD, an enigmatic dead guy with mysterious un-ghost-like abilities. According to JD, the umbra was sent by the Lazarus, a sadistic immortal who plans to use the power of captured souls—including Lou’s godmother and father—to break free from a prison dimension tied to the magic of Roaring Rock Island, and an ancient evil at the island’s nexus. Though an electric connection with JD invites dangerous feelings, it also ignites an even more terrifying ability to influence spirits with the power in her voice. JD claims that he can help Lou leverage her abilities to defeat the Lazarus if she helps him find a missing piece of his soul, but his ulterior motives could be more lethal than the monsters.
THE LAST LOVE SONG
While the umbra returns to capture more souls, the Lazarus’s psychic influence over the town grows, turning friends and neighbors into enemies, Lou and JD follow the clues her godmother left and travel a mystical road between realms to find an legendary instrument of power strong enough to cure any curse. To claim the relic, however, Lou must choose between the living people she loves and the dead she lost to unlock an ancient song only she can sing, a power strong enough to steal a soul back from a devil. But this song’s destiny is bound to the entity known as Death, the most cunning supernatural chess master of all… and they have big plans for Lou, too.
what keeps hope alive?
Some Songs Are So Powerful They Can save a life
(or, you know, the world).
Listen to the music that inspired Light of the Lost.
Story Setting
Brave Boat Harbor, Maine
A small seaside town with big supernatural secrets. A dream for tourists who like their lobster served with a side of lore. One of the most haunted towns in America, Brave Boat Harbor, has more than its fair share of disasters and miracles that keep conspiracy theorists and artists coming back for more.
The Other side
There are no heroes on Route 0, just Death’s doors to other worlds. You think you’re chosen, hero? Go then. Sweet fool who runs to love and war.
Legend has it that the Other Side is home to entities, civilizations, and mysteries that Death has reaped over the years. Traveler, you have been warned.
Roaring Rock Island
Many adventurers have dashed their dreams against the rocky shores of Brave Boat Harbor’s infamous island. Some have even claimed to see the legendary Wildlight, a mysterious phenomenon that defies explanation. Although there was a time when the public was allowed to visit the island in summer, a series of disasters locals deemed ‘the Return’ led to laws prohibiting trespassing on ‘the Rock.’ Which is probably for the best…considering the island isn’t just an island.
Oblivion
Very few locals remember the Return, but those who do are still afraid of the dark. What creature now lurks in that darkness, capturing the light of lost spirits? What does that have to do with legendary rocker Declan Jones? Or the fate of every citizen in Brave Boat Harbor?
What IF there was a song that could steal a soul back from a devil?
QUOTE
Grief carves a looping groove in the heart, baby girl, a record stuck on repeat. But the moment you give your pain away to the monsters that promise pretty lies, you give your power away too. If you choose to weave those notes of sorrow with faith and courage to create once more, then you will find a life and a love worth fighting for.
Unique Lense
What haunts you can also heal.
I’m a New England girl. I grew up with misguided adventures, on wild paths through rocky shores, and reading too much Stephen King. This is my love letter to Maine magic, to the stubborn misfits in small towns who band together to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It’s a salute to survivors who want to thrive again and complicated families doing the work to heal. It’s also an ode to the healing power of music.
Let’s Start a New Chapter
Available for interviews, articles on writing, book fairs, and personal appearances.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
Q: What is the genre and tone?
A: YA horror with romance and fantasy elements.
Q: What is the hook?
A: When an undead monster attacks her harbor town, a newly sober teen musician must face the pain of her past and embrace her terrifying paranormal powers to free captured souls—including her murdered father’s—from a prison dimension connected to her town’s cursed history.
Q: Who is the intended audience?
A: Readers aged 15 - 21, and any adult who loves a dark and twisty horror story served with heart and hope.
Q: What are your comps?
A: For readers who enjoy the mysteries, complicated family dynamics, and magical legacies of The Night Eaters and Holly Black’s Good Neighbors, the afterlife adventures of Grim and School Spirits, and the supernatural horror of Something is Killing the Children.