1867. Eliza Caine arrives in Norfolk to take up her position as governess at Gaudlin Hall on a dark & chilling night. As she makes her way across the station platform a pair of invisible hands push her from behind into the path of an approaching train. She is only saved by the vigilance of a passing doctor. When she finally arrives shaken at the hall she is greeted by the two children in her care Isabella & Eustace. There are no parents no adults at all & no one to represent her mysterious employer. The children offer no explanation. Later that night in her room a second terrifying experience further reinforces the sense that something is very wrong. From the moment she rises the following morning her every step seems dogged by a malign presence which lives within Gaudlin's walls. Eliza realises that if she & the children are to survive its violent attentions she must first uncover the hall's long-buried secrets & confront the demons of its past.