Faith, Fear, and Fortune - Professor Vlkoslag sells them all.
 
In the rough-edged boomtown of Las Vegas, New Mexico, Professor Vlkoslag’s Traveling Medicine Show rolls into town with its usual mix of spectacle, sleight of hand, and snake oil. But beneath the smell of camphor and sawdust lies something darker. Something born from the Professor’s own forbidden magic.
 
Vlkoslag isn’t just a showman—he’s a magician who wields real power and uses it to manipulate both magic and men. With his fortune-telling accomplice, Madame Roma, he conjures terror from myth, weaving spells and stories that send audiences fleeing into the night…and their money straight into his coffers.
 
By dawn, the wagons will be gone, the townsfolk left clutching useless talismans. However, one young boy will have joined the troupe, eager to learn the craft of illusion…and deception.
 
A tale of magic, manipulation, and monsters, Professor Vlkoslag’s Traveling Medicine Show blends the wonder of the Wild West with the chill of the supernatural. Every performance hides a price, and every trick may summon its own truth.
 
Recommended for fans of: Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Jonathan Maberry
 
4650 Words
 
Content Advisory – Professor Vlkoslag’s Traveling Medicine Show
 
Genre(s): Historical Fantasy • Dark Fantasy • Supernatural Adventure
 
Age Guidance 15+ – menace, mild sensuality in burlesque references, and supernatural peril
 
Content Ratings (Wolf Paw Scale: 0–5)
Language: [no paws] — none
Sexual Content: 🐾 — mild burlesque references; no explicit content
Violence: 🐾🐾 — brief creature attack, minor peril, no graphic detail
Dark Themes: 🐾🐾🐾 — occult magic, manipulated fear, mild horror elements
 
This story blends eerie atmosphere with theatrical charm and moments of tension.