Elevator People
by Charlotte Laws
Sci-fi, Humor, and Horror
Released on July 11, 2025. Available wherever books are sold.
“Brilliantly written! Dystopian thriller packed with humor, heart, and horror. Eight charity volunteers go on a macabre journey and confront the most consequential moral message of our time. They must decide whether to embrace it or hide out at a mattress store in a Baltimore mini-mall.” – Bruce Goldberg, best-selling author
“Original! Funny! Surprising! A wake-up call for a world that has gone astray.” – Cynthia Shortreed, editor
“An imaginative sci-fi masterpiece with unexpected twists and turns. It forces you to rethink your values. You’ll never look at life, compassion, or the planet in the same way again.” – Sue Jones, Hollywood TV Report
“What do Charles Manson, the Killer Clown, and Hitler have in common? They all make an appearance in Elevator People. Have they come back to life? Or what? I’m not telling. You’ll have to read this well-crafted, edge-of-your-seat thriller to find out.” – Pamelyn Ferdin, actress
“Charlotte Laws fulfills Elevator People’s promise of intrigue and deadpan comedy. The main characters are a terrifically mixed bag of personality traits, which makes for richly entertaining reading. Elevator People is a high-spirited time-travel adventure… with sharp dialogue and a winning cast of contrasting characters.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Elevator People is a true original with wondrous world-building, featuring odd aliens, Cruelty Quotient scores, cameos by Hitler and Charles Manson, and the Charity Eight doing the absolute best they can.” – Publisher’s Weekly (Booklife Prize)
Eight people leave a charity gala in 2025. They step off a hotel elevator and find themselves in a different century. This is not an ordinary world. They see atrocities—hideous and hellish things found only in nightmares. The place is a horror show. Their values and beliefs are put to the test. Victims beg for help, and they become underground operatives. They are hunted by the authorities and the cultlike masses who call them terrorists. They are a threat to their customs, a risk to their bloodthirsty ways.
They eventually learn that thousands of elevator people around the world have time traveled as a part of the Earthling Extermination Project. Earth is causing catastrophic weather events for other planets, and elevator people are tasked with softening the blow before annihilation day—that is, if they agree to accept the mission. Will they save the planet? Will they ever get home? What will be their fate?
There are cameo appearances in Elevator People by a number of dead scoundrels, including Charles Manson, the Killer Clown, and Adolf Hitler. This dystopian time travel novel makes a captivating turn at the seventy percent mark where it offers a profound, philosophical message. Thematically, it analyzes the values and behavior of people today and offers a better path forward—a direction for embracing a more compassionate world.
Amazon and Barnes & Noble