SPHI

The Summers Psychological Horror Index (SPHI) is a story-based rating system used on this site to describe the
psychological pressure inside my books—how dread builds, how control behaves, and what survival costs. Each title can display a
SPHI graphic (image) that summarizes its score readout.

Upcoming Titles

Projects

Information

SPHI is presented as a simple, readable signal about psychological-horror intensity. It focuses on pressure, control,
erosion, and the story’s emotional “gravity”—not just body count. The SPHI graphic for each title is meant to be scanned
quickly, then understood more deeply if you want the breakdown.

Data

SPHI draws from story evidence: who survives, who doesn’t, how harm is delivered, and how the narrative behaves over time.
The underlying tally is built from named-character outcomes (survival vs. death), the timing and distribution of deaths,
and the presence of control dynamics such as coercion, captivity, dominance, and identity erosion.

Explanation

A higher SPHI score generally means the horror is closer, more sustained, and more psychologically costly. That can come from
systems that keep running, predators who operate with routine precision, or environments that reduce people into roles, numbers,
or outcomes. SPHI is designed to reflect the story’s mechanisms—not just its events.

Additional Explanation

SPHI is not a “gore meter.” Some stories feel brutal because they are loud; others feel brutal because they are organized.
Psychological horror often lives in the calm parts: the rules, the schedule, the polite voice, the locked routine, the sense
that the system can outlive any single person. SPHI is meant to highlight that specific kind of fear.

In Summary

SPHI is a quick way to understand what kind of psychological horror you’re stepping into across my books—how dread is built,
how control behaves, and what survival costs. If you see a SPHI graphic on a title page, this is the “why” behind it.