The Atropine Tree

Bram Stoker Award-winning author Sarah Read returns with a stunning new vision of gothic terror. Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets.When Alrick Aldane returns to his family's house, he expects to simply inherit his father's land and title.Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property's disturbing history--one full of witchcraft--and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.

Sarah Read's stories can be found in various places, including Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year vols 10 and 12. Her first collection OUT OF WATER is available from Trepidatio Publishing, as is her debut novel THE BONE WEAVER'S ORCHARD, both nominated for the Bram Stoker, This is Horror, and Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards. ORCHARD won the Stoker and the This Is Horror Award, and is available in Spanish as EL JARDIN DEL TALLADOR DE HUESOS, published by Dilatando Mentes, where it was nominated for the Guillermo de Baskerville Award. Her second collection, ROOT ROT & OTHER GRIM TALES is available through Bad Hand Books. Her second novel, The ATROPINE TREE, was released from Bad Hand Books in 2024.