Charles Sumner

Intro Charles Sumner was a famous pianist. Well… before he was brutally murdered, that is. Born in the late 1800s to a voodoo witch known as Mama Creole, Charles only ever loved two people: his mother, and his fiancée, Mary O’Hara. Mary was his world. She sang beside him in a traveling caravan, while he played piano with his soul in every note. Perfect couple. Perfect life. Until it wasn’t. Mary grew tired of the road—and of Charles. Instead of leaving, she started an affair with a local mob boss named Henry. She asked him to “scare” Charles into skipping town. Just a few bruises. Nothing fatal. Then Charles won a $10,000 piano contest. Henry saw an opportunity. He and his men dragged Charles behind an old bar and beat him bloody. But when Charles saw their faces—Henry panicked. He didn’t want to be recognized. So he gouged out Charles’ eyes with sharpened sticks. When Charles screamed, Henry panicked again. He grabbed a dull saw. And he didn’t stop until Charles’ head hit the ground. They left his body under a pile of leaves and took the money. Mama Creole found him the next morning. And using her powerful voodoo, she brought her son back. Not quite alive. Not quite dead. She gave him black buttons for eyes, loose stitches for a mouth, and a stitched ring around his pale neck. Charles was gone. King Creole was born. He found Henry. He tore him apart, turning the mobsters’ remains into tiny, living voodoo dolls. And Mary? He found her too. Turned her into a porcelain doll. Fragile. Still alive. Still locked in his basement. These days, King Creole still runs his little store in New Orleans, selling charms and free wishes to children. But he never forgives. And he never forgets.