Superstition shrouds the island of Thran and keeps the fear-plagued inhabitants subservient to the reclusive tyrant, the vampire Lord Ebonacht, and the denizens of the unseen Twilight Court. Only Janus, an orphan whose own mysterious past is discussed in frightened whispers, rails against the tales of the Strangerfolk and the other creatures that are rumoured to stalk the night. His quest to prove the old stories false will bring him face to face with the prisoner of the Screaming Tower and reveal secrets about the world 'and himself' far more terrible than those hinted at in the grimmest of legends.