Rochester Lake
“The ritual is not for the dead.”
Folk Horror • Supernatural • Mystery
When Lucy Ward inherits her aunt’s lakeside home, she discovers that the town’s beloved Founders’ Week conceals a ritual offering to something known as the Watcher—and this year, Lucy’s name has appeared on the List.
Coming Soon
About the Book
After the death of her aunt Margaret, Lucy Ward returns to Rochester Lake and inherits the aging lake house she left behind. Almost immediately, something feels wrong. Neighbors watch from behind curtains. Bowls of salt and black candles sit on every porch. Wind chimes ring when the air is still. And everyone seems unusually interested in whether Lucy plans to participate in the town’s annual Founders’ Week.
Inside Margaret’s house, Lucy discovers a hidden journal called The Book of Offerings. Its pages describe rituals involving salt, covered mirrors, burning torches and something called the List—a mysterious collection of names that appears without anyone witnessing who placed it there. Margaret’s final warning is even more disturbing: the mirror shows only what the lake remembers.
As Founders’ Week approaches, Lucy learns that the town’s cheerful celebration conceals a much older tradition. Those whose names appear on the List become the Chosen, expected to participate in the Founders’ Walk while the residents surround the lake with burning torches. The ritual is intended to maintain a mysterious balance with something the townspeople call the Watcher.
Then Lucy’s own name appears on the List.
Now she must uncover what happened to her aunt, what the lake has demanded from generations of residents, and why an entire community has accepted the unthinkable as the price of survival.
Rochester Lake is a folk-horror mystery about inherited guilt, ritual sacrifice and a community that has survived by obeying something beneath the water that should never have been disturbed.
Book Details
Title: Rochester Lake
Author: James Leach
Genre: Folk Horror / Supernatural / Mystery
Setting: Rochester Lake
Timeline: Present Day
Format: Novel
Status: Coming Soon
Available: Coming Soon
About the Author
James “JC” Leach, USAF (Ret.) is a U.S. Air Force military veteran, technical writer, instructional designer, and screenwriter whose work blends operational realism, geopolitical tension, and deeply human stakes.
With more than two decades of experience across military aviation, electronic warfare, technical documentation, intelligence-related training, and instructional design, JC brings a combination of field knowledge and narrative discipline to his fiction. His U.S. Air Force career included electronic warfare and airborne systems, thousands of flight hours, and extensive experience working within complex military and aerospace environments.
After years developing screenplays, James brought that same cinematic instinct to long-form fiction, combining visual storytelling, technical authenticity, and character-driven suspense.
JAMES LEACH Author • Screenwriter 