When underground documentarian Minerva Krackle mysteriously disappears after an interview with the “Modern-Day Mummy of San Bernardino County,” her assistant Harper is left with a mess of footage and a tight deadline. During her review of thirty years of interviews Krackle conducted with real-life monsters—werewolves, vampires, invisible dancers, mermaids, sea monsters in the desert—Harper pieces together their links with Krackle’s disappearance and also with the tragic on-stage death of pop-magician The Great Merlan. With the help of Krackle’s former bodyguard Dr. Danger and small-town diner waitress Liz, Harper must decide whether to expose her own hidden history to finish the film, or to let Krackle's legacy disappear right along with her.
Praise for Krackle's Last Movie:
"What a great story! Full of humor and wisdom and weirdness and pathos and wonder and lots of other stuff, too. Chelsea Sutton delivers the magic!"
—Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth and the New York Times bestseller We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
"Chelsea Sutton pulls off a kind of magic trick with her novella, Krackle's Last Movie. Never have I read a story that so seamlessly and enjoyably wove so much mythology and monster lore together. Sutton manages to bring to her world not just monsters, but humor, pathos, humanity, and heart-wrench. Reading this novella is a pure delight."
—Manuel Gonzales, author of The Regional Office is Under Attack! and The Miniature Wife
"Part mystery, part monster movie, part searing look into the shadowy corners of the soul, Krackle’s Last Movie manages to be simultaneously sensational and insightful. Chelsea Sutton’s novella packs more surprise twists and turns than a novel five times its length, every one of them delightful and wrapped, mummy-like, in her gorgeous language. Like all the best books, as soon as I finished it I wanted to read it again."
—Anjali Sachdeva, author of All the Names They Used for God
"Krackle's Last Movie is a lightning bolt invitation to travel through the surreal, intimate landscapes occupied by monsters, time loss, and memory stretching. From angels with clipped wings, to mermaids, and mummies stuck in time, these characters and their relationships will weave themselves into the crevices of your heart so it will be impossible to let them go when the story ends."
—Shingai Njeri Kagunda, author of & This is How to Stay Alive
"A dark, clever story about the narratives we build around ourselves, that dazzles with its love for the strange and uncanny. In a novella’s amount of Time and with sharp, precise prose, Chelsea Sutton manages to weave the language of cinema, theater, magic, religious trauma, and Time together to create a story so, so deeply sincere. Chelsea Sutton understands monsters—their pulpiness and the innate tragedy of them. Krackle’s Last Movie is for those who have ever been made to feel ashamed of who they are.”
—M. M. Olivas, author of Sundown in San Ojuela
"There is no other writer like Chelsea Sutton. Krackle's Last Movie is heartfelt, graceful, and astoundingly well-crafted. You'll be aching to reread it the moment you finish."
—Sam Asher, founder and editor of The Cosmic Background
