In Arthur Shattuck O’Keefe’s debut novel The Spirit Phone, cocksure young mage Aleister Crowley and eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla confront the enigma of Thomas Edison’s phone to contact the dead.

Since its release by BHC Press in November 2022, The Spirit Phone has received critical acclaim: Booklist praises its “unique blend of elements” featuring “a world made magical and strange.” Nightmare Magazine calls it “an enjoyable occult mystery…that keeps you spinning from one shocking revelation to the next.” It is described as “startlingly original and strangely engrossing” by Rex Pickett, author of Sideways (basis for the Academy Award-winning screenplay). Novelist Ian R. MacLeod, winner of multiple accolades such as the Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards, calls The Spirit Phone “a twisted, twisty and novel take on science, the supernatural and modern history.”

The e-book edition of The Spirit Phone reached Barnes & Noble Bestseller status in April 2023, peaking at #16. The audiobook narration has earned two-time Emmy winner Daniel Penz the 2023 Voice Arts Award for Best Voiceover (Audiobook Narration—Science Fiction).

O’Keefe’s short fiction includes stories in Johnny America, Suspense Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Manawaker Studio’s Flash Fiction Podcast, Ragazine, and The Stray Branch. He has written articles for Kyoto Journal, PopMatters, The Japan Times, Japan Today, Rain Taxi, and Metropolis. He is an associate professor of English at Showa Women’s University in Tokyo. You can follow him on X , Facebook, and Instagram.

Image and text credits:

Thomas Edison’s quote from the original edition of The Diary and Sundry Observations of Thomas Alva Edison is used with the permission of the publisher, The Philosophical Library.

The artwork on the Short Fiction page is by Andrew Jones.

The page photo for “A Spirited Conversation” was accessed on the website Beyond the Gilded Age , where it is captioned “A Rainy Day on Upper Broadway in New York City, 1899.” Photographer unknown. Image edited by Arthur Shattuck O’Keefe.

The tab icon featured on all pages is by Kiranshastry at www.flaticon.com.

The Nonfiction page photo is by Arthur Shattuck O’Keefe.

The About page photo is by Shiho Nishinouchi.