October Surprise

"October Surprise" is a 2006 short story by American author and editor Kevin L. O'Brien. It appeared in the October 2006 issue of the online fanzine Nightscapes (#16).
==Synopsis==
In the lead-up to the 1980 Carter-Reagan presidential election, a 300,000-year-old man named Hawthorne, currently in charge of a covert government agency, uncovers a plot by a secret cabal to destroy a Deep One city and awaken the Great Old One Cthaeghya. Infiltrating the enemy group, Hawthorne meets the physicist behind the scheme, one Abigail Dexter. However, there is more to Dexter than meets the eye, and despite Hawthorne's best efforts, the plan succeeds. Cthaeghya is set free to release those Great Old Ones that remain imprisoned.
==Characters==
*Ethan Oliver Hawthorne/Khuranes, an ancient human who has dedicated his existence to combatting the forces of the Cthulhu Mythos. Currently at the head of the covert agency known as Black Omega.
*Abigail Dexter/The Black Whore, an accomplished physicist and Avatar of Nyarlathotep.
*Professor Laban Shrewsbury, a member of the Miskatonic University faculty with extensive occult knowledge.
== Behind the Mythos ==
Following the 1980 election, the Reagan campaign was accused of negotiating with the government of Iran to delay the release of American hostages held in the Tehran embassy until after the election--an allegation referred to as the "October Surprise".The Intercept, "A Short History of Everyone Who Confirmed Reagan’s October Surprise Before the New York Times," by Jon Schwarz, March 24, 2003.
== References ==
Category:Kevin L. O'Brien works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works