Pacific Glade is a quiet town, mostly.
Mark Hannigan is a homicide detective in Pacific Glade, a small, secluded town located in the Pacific Northwest. It's a pretty normal town, besides the Weird Weather, and the strange noises that come from the woods, and that one time that every chicken in the Glade vanished overnight. Being a detective in a town like this will often bring up unsolvable mysteries, and when called to investigate a suspiciously mutilated dead body, he meets a federal agent known as the Inspector, a tall man in a Conspicuous Trenchcoat. As more bodies begin to turn up, Mark begins to realize that there's more going on in the Glade than meets the eye.
The Neverglade Mysteries (also known as The Neverglades) is a series of Mystery/Detective Fiction stories by David Farrow. The first story, "Lost Time," was originally published on the Nosleep subreddit in February of 2018, and it can be read here
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David Farrow wrote several stories from the perspective of the Inspector (17 in total) which can each be found linked here.
This series provides examples of:
- Bedlam House: Mark finds himself inexplicably transported back in time to Mount Palmer Psychiatric Institute during the events of "On the Mountain of Madness." Maybe.
- Cigar Chomper: The Inspector. He is almost never seen without his cigar, and Mark claims he almost can't imagine him without it. It's more than just a cigar however, and is actually used as a torpedo in "Zombie Radio."
- From Nobody to Nightmare: In "Zombie Radio," Marcy McKenna is a secretary that they briefly interact with. In "Remember Me," it's revealed that she telepathically altered the memories of everyone in town to believe she was a celebrity who had been murdered, causing the town to start a lynch mob against her boyfriend.
- Hell Is That Noise: While listening to a strange radio station in "Zombie Radio," it suddenly unleashes a deafening screech which rattles Mark's eardrums.
- Indian Burial Ground: Mark recalls Skokomish Bluffs being described as such when he was a kid.
- Lesbian Jock: Olivia Marconi is revealed to be one during the events of "The Wendigo," though she was known to be a jock before that.
- Living Mood Ring: The color of the smoke from the cigar which the Inspector always smokes changes depending on his mood.
- Meaningful Name: Several.
- The main villain of "On the Mountain of Madness" is named Dr. Renfield.
- The first of the many zombies dealt with during "Zombie Radio" was named Harvey Jackson.
- Marcy's boyfriend is John Whedon.
- Mystery Magnet: The Inspector. He goes where he feels he is needed, which almost always involves the paranormal. Mark is also a magnet, though he wishes he wasn't.
- Mysterious Purple:
- The Inspector is a mysterious Occult Detective in a Conspicuous Trenchcoat and Mystery Magnet who was drawn to Pacific Glade to help solve the paranormal mysteries that seem to abound. Naturally, he has purple eyes and unusual pale skin, both of which mark him as being more than what he appears.
- In "Purple Moon" a mysterious purple moon rises in the town without explanation, creating a new mystery to solve. It ends up being one of The Inspector's eyes.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: Rosen Corp, and one of their subsidiaries, CAPRA, pose quite the threat, as they are responsible for introducing several entities into Pacific Glade for the purpose of testing. They also appear during the Inspector Investigations, revealing they do their business across the country.
- Occult Detective: The Inspector. He investigates the paranormal and was actually drawn to Pacific Glade specifically due to it seeming to be a hotspot.
- Off with His Head!: The Inspector deals with one of the zombies this way. Using a shovel.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: Mark has this dynamic with the Inspector, who has apparently been around since the dawn of civilization.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The creatures which Mark and the Inspector face during the events of "Zombie Radio" aren't necessarily the living dead, they're actually the result of a malevolent entity which travels through radio waves, responsible for liquefying their brains and reanimating them.
- Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: Naturally, the only way to deal with the dead is by doing this.
- Shout-Out:
- Mark once jokingly refers to the Inspector as "Detective Lovecraft."
- The Stoic: The Inspector is normally this, even when faced with danger.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Plenty of mysterious and unnerving events take place in Pacific Glade. It's later revealed by the Inspector that the town is apparently located on top of a rift between dimensions, meaning more supernatural things are able to slip through.
- Technicolor Eyes: The Inspector has purple eyes. This, along with his gray skin, are a hint that he's more than he seems to be.
- Vomiting Cop: Averted. The two bodies discovered in "Lost Time" both make Mark feel the urge to vomit, but he never actually does so. In "Zombie Radio," however, the coroner promptly vomits upon seeing a body whose brain had leaked out.
- Weird Moon: The events of "Purple Moon" involve one (a purple one, obviously) among other things. Later in the story, it's revealed to not be a moon, but one of the Inspector's eyes.
- Weirdness Magnet: Pacific Glade has a tendency to attract the strange and unnatural, due to it being located on top of a dimensional rift.
- The Inspector is a variant of this. He does not actually attract the paranormal, rather, he is drawn to it.
- Wendigo: The fourth story involves a creature which is labelled as one. It's actually a creature known as an Empathic Giant, who feeds off of fear and creates pocket dimensions to trap its victims.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: It's never explicitly stated which state Pacific Glade is in, though it's known to be in the Pacific Northwest (hence the name). "Zombie Radio" makes mention of a Seahawks game, strongly implying Pacific Glade to at least be in Washington.
- Wild Wilderness: Pacific Glade is described as being surrounded by miles and miles of dense forest, with the drive to the nearest town taking 20 minutes.
- The Worf Effect: "Lucid Dreams" features the first direct appearance of Rosen Corp, and one of their scientists, Valentina Koeppel, is introduced after she vaporizes the Inspector.
