Patrick Arrasmith

Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties.".

As sixty-year-old John Gregory reflects on the past, he reveals how the world of ghosts, ghasts, witches, and boggarts was exposed to him and he later became the Spook, even though his first intention had been to join the priesthood.

Slither lurks in woods and towns, hunting for human blood, but before he can feast on three lovely sisters, their dying father binds the monster to a bargain.

Now thirteen years old, Tom Ward continues his apprenticeship with the Spook as they confront a dangerous bane who can control people's thoughts.

Told from the point of view of Alice, best friend "and true love" to Tom, the spook's last apprentice. Alice is the most powerful witch in the world, and she ventures into the dark itself. Alice Dean's destiny is intertwined with Tom Ward's. But he's going to be the next Spook, and she's a witch, possibly the most powerful one the world has ever seen. To rid the world of its greatest evil, the Fiend, Alice will venture into the depths of the dark...

Separate tales reveal the backgrounds of four terrifying witches, including Alice and the Spook's love, Meg.