Sign-In
Cart
The Shadow Groom
Paperback
Series: Grotesqueries
Publisher: Hayden Thorne
Published: Jul 1 2026
Pages: 144
Weight: 0.44
Height: 0.34 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
All is well and perfect in the world because Errol Bricksworth and Edvin Loyola-Norikova are young (too young), in love (overly so), and betrothed at just nineteen (heaven help everyone). Their families aren't very keen on the idea, and with the help of Errol's beloved Uncle Sorrel, an arrangement is made meant to test the lads' resolve to have their happily-ever-after.
It does require three months spent in an old, old gatehouse that's not only home to mismatched furnishings, art, and miscellaneous contents spanning centuries, but a few very active ghosts as well. Errol and Edvin are to be the gatehouse's caretakers while Uncle Sorrel, who owns the property, withdraws with his tiny staff to a cozy cottage tucked away in the wood. And for three months, both young men need to get their hands dirty, learn the rudiments of domestic life as a couple (learning how to cook helps), and get used to sharing space with lives long gone.
Errol and Edvin's youth makes them brave and even reckless as they readily accept the terms, determined to prove those poxy adults wrong. Even those resident ghosts don't bother them, though not all hauntings, apparently, are made the same. Equal parts irritating and unnerving, the ghosts gradually force the lads to think beyond their tiny world of two either through spectral echoes of long-forgotten lives or the quiet guidance of a gentleman known only as the shadow groom to former staff.
The Shadow Groom is a humorous re-imagining of the German folktale The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was.
Also from
Thorne, Hayden
Also in
Horror
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paperback
Japanese Gothic: A Folk Horror Novel of Japanese Mythology, Murder, and Family Duty Across Two Timelines
Baker, Kylie Lee
Hardcover
Incidents Around the House: A Novel: The Inspiration for the Movie Other Mommy
Malerman, Josh
Paperback
The Amalfi Curse: A Bewitching Tale of Sunken Treasure, Forbidden Love, and Ancient Magic on the Amalfi Coast
Penner, Sarah
Paperback
Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Shelley, Mary
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stoker, Bram
Paperback
THE GIRLS IN THE CABIN an absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller packed with heart-stopping twists
Stephens, Caleb
Paperback
From the Library of Jurgen Leitner (the Magnus Archives)
Mohamed, Premee
Sims, Jonathan
Rusty Quill
Hardcover