What is fiction by post?

Fiction by post is exactly what it sounds like: a story that arrives in the mail, in installments, over time.

The two traditions it comes from

Serialised fiction. Most of the early novels of Charles Dickens, for example, were published serially: Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers. Every month, readers would receive a part of the book, a few chapters wrapped up in printed wrappers with illustrations.

Epistolary fiction. This is when a story is told through documents: letters, diary entries, telegrams. Dracula is a famous example. The reader experiences the story both through the narrative and the evidence around it.

Fiction by post marries the two together. The Slowburn Story Club mails you an epistolary story, from an award-winning writer, once a month.

What The Keeper does with the form

The Keeper is an Irish speculative folk-horror story told entirely through letters. Six envelopes, one a month.