Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Vellichor

n.
the strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time—filled with thousands of old books you’ll never have time to read, each of which is itself locked in its own era, bound and dated and papered over like an old room the author abandoned years ago, a hidden annex littered with thoughts left just as they were on the day they were captured.

From vellum, parchment + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Ancient Greek mythology. Pronounced “vel-uh-kawr.”

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Echthesia

blurry image of two clocks

Lisolia

a bookcase containing objects

Tirosy

a close-up of a young child's face

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Énouement

a hand opening a curtain

Epistrix

several doors standing in a dark room

Appriesse

a blurry image of a person looking at mounted images

Daguerreologue

Daguer-reologue

a man sitting in blurred silhouette at a desk

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Blinkback

a wall full of pictures and objects

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Zysia

a kite soaring above an empty landscape

Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Rivener

Cover image for the Rivener word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Standard Blues

Cover image for the The Standard Blues word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Ringlorn

Cover image for the Ringlorn word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mahpiohanzia

Cover image for the Mahpiohanzia word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

O’Erpine

a person looking at a grave

Nemotia

a city with clouds of smoke

Heartworm

Cover image for the Heartworm word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Unsharp Mask

a mirror with a reflection of a person

Lackout

Cover image for the Lackout word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows