birthday guest

Author Name: Peter Swanson

Ashley Smith, an American first-year art student in London, plans to spend Christmas alone. But a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starfood Hall, the country home of the Chapman family. Decked out with pine boughs and packed with guests for Christmas week, the house is a dream come true for Ashley. She is captivated by the cozy, fireplace-lit house, the large family, and the charming village of Cliffmore. However, she also becomes enamored with Adam Chapman, Emma's reserved and handsome twin brother. However, the local police are investigating Adam regarding the recent brutal murder of a village girl, and a mysterious stranger haunts the woodland path between Starfood Hall mansion and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is really living. Is she in for a great romance? A Gothic tale? Or is she prowling something far more sinister and terrifying than she ever imagined? More than three decades later, the events of that horrific week resurface, accompanied by memoirs from the time period. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmases later.