Dr. Potter's Medicine Show

(Paperback)

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Description

The year is 1878. Dr Alexander Potter, disgraced Civil War surgeon, now snake-oil salesman, travels the Pacific Northwest with a disheartened company of strongmen, fortune-tellers, and musical whores. Under their mysterious and murderous leader they entertain the masses while hawking the Chock-a-saw Sagwa Tonic, a vital elixir touted to cure all ills both physical and spiritual. For a few unfortunate customers, however, the Sagwa offers something much, much worse. For drunken dentist Josiah McDaniel, the Sagwa has taken everything from him; in the hired company of two accidental outlaws, the bickering brothers Solomon Parker and Agamemnon Rideout, he looks to revenge himself on the Elixir's creator- Dr. Morrison Hedwith, businessman, body-thief, and secret alchemist, a man who is running out of time. File Under-Fantasy The Secret Tradition |Chemical Imbalance |Hustlers Hustled |The Carnival is Over

Reviews

"Eric Scott Fischl offers up a powerful alchemical elixir concocted of post Civil War historical fiction, dark fantasy, Felliniesque flavoring, all in a ruby goblet of lapidary prose.Take the goblet, and drink deeply."
John Shirley, author of the A Song Called Youth trilogy

Dr. Potter's Medicine Show is a brilliant study of characters struggling against the monstrous to retain their own humanity. Fischl's talent for voice and knack for characterization finds humor and beauty amidst horror and depravity. It's heartbreaking, elegiac, and an absolute pleasure to read.
Carrie Patel, author of the Recoletta series

Fischl has infused his tale of the old west with one part of alchemy and one part of gangster movie. The resultant brew is deliciously dark and entirely compelling.
Rod Duncan, Philip K Dick Award-nominated author of The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter

A word of advice: whatever you do, don't drink the Sagwa. One part history, two parts fantasy, and three parts toe-curling horror. Drink it down. A grotesque elixir of history, fantasy, and toe-curling horror. Warning: may cause nausea, sleep disturbances, and compulsive page-turning. Not to be taken orally.
Arianne "Tex" Thompson, author of the Children of the Drought trilogy

Dirty, dank, and dangerous. Dr Potters Medicine Show is the missing season of Carnivle you didn't know you needed until now.
Adam Rakunas, Philip K Dick Award-nominated author of Windswept

So even though Dr Potter rightly belongs on the 'horror/occult' side of the Weird Western spectrum, it cleaves apart from the sensational grimdark vogue that so heavily tints our view of the past. Fischls command of his characters world is grotesque, vivid, joyful, and sublime an uncommon realism that honors the human side of history, and a reminder that a carnival of horrors is still a carnival, after all, with miracles and spectacles awaiting anyone brave enough to venture into the sideshow tent.
Tor.com

The characters are vividly realised, leading you to feel as sympathetically towards some as you are horrified by others, and Eric Scott Fischl isn't afraid to be brutal with his creations. The ingredients may seem pulpy, but Fischl has turned them into gold.
SFX magazine

Youll feel slightly dirty after spending time with some of these characters, but youll never forget them - or this gritty, down-and-dirty debut.
The B&N Sci-FI & Fantasy Blog

Dr Potters Medicine Show is violent, gory, and uncomfortable but ultimately a hell of a read.
Manhattan Book Review

I enjoyed reading this. Its well written and the characters are all well rounded and you know theyve lived full lives before we met them. Theres a very oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere which builds tension to a satisfying finale.
Helen Lindley

This novel is dark, and at times violent. So be warned. But with each turn of the page I was transported to a different era, to events that were both strange and bizarre, and I loved it.
Buzzing Bookmark

I highly recommend Dr. Potter's Medicine Show. It's a good story with great characters.
Purple Owl Reviews

A great and wonderful read that wont disappoint those used to fantasy, horror or suspense.
The Writers, Artists and Readers Guild

How to describe the book It's almost as if Mary Shelley had set Frankenstein, or Robert Louis Stephenson Doctor Jekyll, in the Old West. But weirder than that, and funnier too. 4/5*
Blue Book Balloon

The kind of story you should read while chugging cheap whiskey straight from the bottle and cussing up a storm. Its an intense ride full of alchemy, death, and violence.
The Eichenblog

If youre looking for subtle but engrossing fantasy with a deliciously dark heart, then look no further, the doctor will see you now.
The Eloquent Page

The old west is so well evoked you can almost smell the manure, the characters are incredible, leaping off the page and into your brain and the story carries you along in this miraculous world. Thrilling, entertaining and totally immersive.
Morpheus Tales

The darkness and violence fits the overall tenor and style of the novel. It rattles along as a satisfying thriller, building to a climactic and horrific close.
Astounding Yarns

Did I say dark Wow, this book is dark.
Fed On Peaches

If youre easily freaked out, read this one with the lights on or with a buddy, and if you have a strong reaction to violence, proceed with caution.
Geek Dad

An impressive book: the world is richly imagined, and the characters are vividly drawn. The mysteries are teased out at just the right pace, and I couldnt put it down. If this show rolls around again, Ill be first in line for a ticket.
Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

I picked upDr. Potters Medicine Showbased on the title alone; a medicine show is maybe my favorite Old West trope, and it all sounded like it was going to be good pulpy fun. Which it is, yes, but its also a disturbing and emotional ride of a story, and one that Ill remember for quite some time.
Skiffy & Fanty

Delightfully unpredictable and has a unique mix of humor and horror.
Cowering King

For those seeking a dose of dark shock and awe it will be grippingly impressive.
British Fantasy Society

A promising Civil War-era horror novel.
Looking for a Good Book

Author Bio

Eric Scott Fischl writes novels of speculative historical fiction and the supernatural. He lives in Montana's Bitterroot Mountains. verbadverb.com twitter.com/eric_fischl Author hometown- Montana, USA