Diary of the Dead

By Bradley Shadows

DIARY OF THE DEAD
by Bradley Shadows
85,000 words Gothic Mystery / Supernatural Horror

When historian Nathaniel Grayson inherits the abandoned Harrow Estate from his estranged uncle, he travels to the fog-laden village of Greystone Hollow to catalog and sell the property. In the study, he discovers a hidden leather-bound diary belonging to Eliza Harrow, a young woman reportedly dead since 1871.

The diary begins with mundane entries but quickly descends into vivid hallucinations, strange voices in mirrors, and mention of a tree behind the estate-The Witness Tree. Eliza's final entries date weeks after her death and hint that she was never buried... and never entirely gone.

Nathaniel seeks answers from Mabel Cotton, a retired librarian and local historian who knows more about the Harrow family than she's willing to say. With her guidance, Nathaniel learns of a long-erased name: Elias Harrow, Eliza's twin brother, who was supposedly stillborn. As supernatural events escalate-visions, lost time, and symbols appearing on his skin-Nathaniel realizes Elias was buried alive beneath the estate as part of an ancient ritual, fed by the house and silenced by the family.

Inside the estate's wardrobe, Nathaniel finds a portal to the house's "mouth"-a place between memory and death. There he meets Elias, who wears Eliza's eyes and Nathaniel's face, and demands to be remembered. Only by making Elias say his own name and sealing the wardrobe can Nathaniel end the haunting and break the legacy.

The novel ends with the diary secured, the house quiet again... until years later, when the diary reappears in a secondhand bookstore, opened by someone new-reigniting the cycle.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FFZB3HBS
• ISBN13: 9798289951618
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.0" x 8.0"