Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote "The Underland" -- and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it's best to let the uncanny house and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling go to rot. Opal is a lot of things -- orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier -- but above all, she's determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to leave Eden. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House -- and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund -- she can't resist. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she's never had: a home. As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire choice: to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares. If Opal wants a home, she'll have to fight for it.
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