Returning to his childhood home in the isolated village of Black Hollow to settle his deceased father's estate, Elias Vale is quickly ensnared by a dark family legacy. The town is shadowed by a forbidden forest governed by ancient, shape-shifting entities that mimic the voices of the living and the dead to lure victims. Elias uncovers a centuries-old bargain involving a malevolent force sealed behind a crimson door, discovering that his father’s twenty-three-year absence was a heroic sacrifice to keep the entity dormant. As the seals fail and a new generation is targeted, Elias must navigate subterranean abysses and confront his own ancestors. To save his sister and break the curse, Elias is forced into a heart-wrenching trade of his most precious memories. This atmospheric gothic horror explores the heavy toll of grief and the terrifying cost of family secrets, culminating in a desperate bid to destroy an ancient sentient tree that feeds on the town's identity and history. Comparable works include The Ritual