'It's going to be a long, hard, cruel winter and there couldn't be a worse place to spend it.' As the nights draw in the Spook decides to travel to his winter house.

His apprentice, Tom, hates the desolate place. There are feral witches in the cellar, menacing creatures stirring on the nearby moors and a sinister stranger threatening Tom's master.

What does the mysterious stranger want? Is the Spook's past catching up with him? And what dangers will Tom face if his master's secrets are revealed?

The third chilling tale in the Wardstone Chronicles, the series that inspired the forthcoming movie The Seventh Son, starring Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes and Julianne Moore.