In 1870 the steamboat Mary Byrd vanished on the Tennessee River, somewhere between Chattanooga and Knoxville. She was never recovered, and her passengers and crew have long been presumed dead. No trace of the wreck has ever been found.

This is the strange and tragic story of the boat’s last night—as told by those who rode aboard her. Listen to their tales: the captain, a gambler, a former slave, and an Irish nun with a revolver under her skirt.

And listen as the villain shares his part in the tragedy.

This is his confession too.

From the jungles of India to an American riverboat, his journey was stranger than anyone could have guessed. More monster than man, he was trapped in a storm, on a boat, with a moon above that was almost full—and a deadly hunger that could not be contained.

So here lie the ghosts of the Mary Byrd. This is their last testament. Read it, and may you kindly judge the souls you find within.

About the Author

Cherie Priest is the author of Dreadful Skin (forthcoming from Subterranean Press in February 2007), Four and Twenty Blackbirds and Wings to the Kingdom. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and a fat black cat.