An uncanny vision that became a seed for Orpheus Nine

AUTHOR, Chris Flynn, a resident of Wonthaggi, woke from what seemed a nightmare, with a scene so vivid he couldn’t ignore it, an uncanny vision that became the seed for his latest novel, Orpheus Nine, published by Hachette – an award-winning novel that was recently recognised as the Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel of the Year in Australia.

In an interview with Chris, he explained that at the time, he was taking a break from writing; he’d just finished travelling after the release of Mammoth, but the impulse behind this supernatural dream was a vision he couldn’t ignore. Chris says that the book is set in the present day and reads, in part, as a parable of the pandemic era - without intention - but delivering a message of shared catastrophe, whereby instead of uniting, a community fractures.

“Orpheus Nine is about every nine-year-old in the world dying at once: children are on a football field, their mouths open into a Latin chant, before their bodies swell with salt,” said Chris.

“The story is about the slow, wrenching collapse of a small town of Gattan, with families left to splinter under the weight of the grief; no knowing of what’s happening, with desperate attempts to protect the children they still have.”

The story uncovers that ten-year-olds are the last of the generation, and children coming to the age of nine are facing their death. The story intertwines a sense of horror while following three families in the fictional town of Gattan, all of whom are facing a different level of grief and in turn, an eruption of conspiracy theories grows, due to blame and radicalisation spreading as easily as fear.

Chris said what started as a dream stayed with him through a summer of fevered drafting and a year of revision – a story that wouldn’t let him rest. “This supernatural story soon became a social mirror of how quickly trust can erode, how truth becomes negotiable and how people weaponise uncertainty to suit their own narratives,” said Chris.

As the book was published in 2025 and the readers began to interpret it, Chris recognised the dream as an echo of his past. “I grew up in a foster home, where my sister and I were the only biological children. In my teens, we had over a hundred children through the house,” said Chris. “This recurring pattern of sudden departures – of children leaving and never returning appears to be connected to this vivid dream of inexplicable loss.”

Chris says the novel ends on an unexpected note that will satisfy some and frustrate others. With production attention, Orpheus Nine looks to be a novel that will live on in conversation.

Orpheus Nine is available online, or in store locally at Turn the Page in Cowes, or Nice Stack of Books in Meeniyan.