Hiraeth Miasma—before it is a virus, or a disease, or a fungus, it is a memory. Ancient, starved, it seeps from the earth like a breath held too long, exhaling through twisted roots and burrowing deep into bones, stirring in the marrow of the living where it sits and waits with bated breath—and in the dead, it blooms. And always, without fail, it calls—calling to those whose veins it thinks of as home, eager to see what has become of the world it once called a friend.
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Dead of Night follows Austin, a 41-year-old firefighter, and his 13-year-old son, Sydney, as they struggle to survive in the aftermath of a devastating airborne virus that claims its victims’ lives before they reanimate as mindless, violent animals. As they journey through an unforgiving world, searching for a safe haven where they can ensure each other’s safety and survival, the bond between father and son deepens—as do the challenges they face.
Sydney, forced to grow up too fast, carries the weight of trauma and loss while trying to hold onto the last remnants of his childhood. Austin’s protective instincts clash with the harsh reality of the new world as he does everything in his power to keep his son safe and alive, trying to preserve the last of Sydney’s joy and innocence.
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Hiraeth. A Welsh word with no direct English translation, a word that carries a profound and inexpressible sense of loss. Often described as a deep, haunting grief, hiraeth is a longing for something—a time, a place, a feeling—that can no longer truly be returned to.