Everything about the long-abandoned Thackeray Mansion screams haunted house, from the rumors surrounding its previous occupants, to the eldery, cantankerous owner, to the gnarled old tree in the backyard with its own cemetery. Still grieving from the death of his wife, historian Harry Thackeray moves down to southern Georgia to investigate the history of the mansion built by his ancestors over a century ago. In tow are Harry’s four children, 18-year-old bookworm Olivia, the popular 14-year-old twins Ryan and Sophie, and 9-year-old rambunctious Randy.

Harry accepts a teaching job at his children’s private school and takes on a student assistant, Isabel, with whom he quickly develops a close relationship as they delve into the history of the mansion and their search for information drags them to a series of eerie abandoned locations. Meanwhile, Olivia confronts a terminal illness with a radical change in lifestyle as one depraved act sets off a battery of consequences for both Ryan and Sophie, perpetrator and victim. Harry struggles to separate fact from fiction as his investigatory skills, parenting skills, and restraint are continually tested.