Originally a starting post at /r/dirtypenpals, but no one bit. I figured I'd see what people here thought and if there's interest, continue it myself.
It started innocent enough. As an aspiring writer, with a well-reviewed but only mediocre selling first novel, and a handful of published short stories, I was researching for a novel about occult groups. I wasn’t planning on writing in the horror genre, but wanted to create a realistic depiction of occult groups. After reading a bunch online and at the local university library, I went to a nearby metaphysics and new age bookstore, where I picked up a few books (or codexes as the gentleman at the counter insisted on calling them) that claimed to include the secrets of the dark arts. Not exactly credible “primary sources,” but I figured it would at least give me some of the vernacular to enhance my own writing.