In a fog-drowned village where the clocks disagree and the gas lamps still argue with the dark, a reclusive gentleman named Mr. Elric Vale keeps one loyal companion — his shadow.

Each evening, he greets it out of habit. Until one night, it greets him back.

What begins as superstition unfolds into an unmaking: of excuses, of elegant avoidance, of love stored in furniture. Through seven haunting nights he must choose between the man he pretends to be and the shadow that remembers him better.

The Gentleman Who Spoke to Shadows is a cinematic, melancholic Halloween tale — part gothic, part lyrical, fully human. A meditation on loneliness, memory, and the strange mercy of being seen by the dark.

For readers who love Tim Burton atmospheres, gaslamp melancholy, and endings that choose release over horror.