They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Ravenwood, California, which my new young adult series is based on. The image of perpetual suburban bliss, each street is lined with perfectly manicured homes and an abundance of pine trees, but a dark and delicious secret is buried just beneath the surface of this picturesque neighborhood.The infamous haunted house, Craven Manor, is filled with ghosts and other things that go bump in the night...
The CHARMED CHRONICLES are YA Urban Fantasy books based on the chilling story about this small town, Ravenwood and the haunted Craven Manor—and it’s underbelly. About what lurks beneath the surface…
The coastal town has enjoyed an uneasy peace for many years, but all that is about to change. Still haunted by a number of unsolved disappearances, the small community now faces another dark crime that brings all its unresolved fears to the surface.
It turns out that nothing is what it seems in this idyllic community.
Ravenwood is located north of San Francisco in Marin County, neighboring Deadwood Grove. Fog rolling in from the Bay often lingers, which keeps the town overcast and gloomy.
It was founded in 1868 by thirteen families, although there is a rumor that Ravenwood was originally settled in the 1690's after a group of Salem witches that fled during the legendary witch trials. A group of French and English pioneers quickly formed an organization called the Heritage Founders, which is still active today.
On the outside, the “Heritage Founders” appear to be a public organization dedicated to preserving local history.
In modern day, the founding families are descendants of the original settlers, and they still secretly continue to practice witchcraft. When Darrah Broussard became their leader in 1994, she convinced the others to use the underground nexus to increase their powers. The founding families were the only people in town that knew of its existence.
Until now.
What isn’t well known by the residents is that Ravenwood is located above a Sheol, which would account for the abundance of supernatural activity over the years.
A Nexus is a point of incredible energy and it can be a place of untold power. The Sheol can work as a type of gateway and an area where the dimensions between the netherworld and the human world are weak. Usually invoked by using the five mystical elements, earth, fire, air, water, and spirit. Commonly, positioned at the center of a pentagram formed by these elements, it can be swayed either way as a force of undeniable good or unspeakable evil.
However, the residents do know all about the otherworldly elements that lurk behind the shadows of Ravenwood. They just don't talk about it to outsiders.
It has a long history of supernatural occurrences. Supposedly, there’s been more mysterious deaths and people gone missing than any other place in California. Deadwood Grove is where they usually find the bodies.
Visitors realize quickly that there's something very different about this place, almost... haunting.
A quiet community that has a high quotient of oddities. The entire town is filled with quirky and eccentric locals. All with something to hide. Due to the small size of Ravenwood, many of the residents are so intricately connected that their elaborate unions and rivalries go back generations. Like the long-standing feud between the Donovans and the Broussards.
Alliances can be complicated by friends with an unnatural influence. Or those blessed with extraordinary powers. Insatiable neighbors struggle with ravenous cravings and an allergy to the sun. And others are cursed with keeping their beastly instincts in check, during the full moon.
Recently, there is a deep-rooted mystery to solve in this overly superstitious town, which has just experienced another wave of teen disappearances. About seventeen years ago, an unknown psycho began kidnapping teenagers. Or at least that's what the local authorities claim.
The residents know it is something else. Something darker. Evil.
The recent disappearance of Sheriff Boyd’s daughter has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse. Now, Mayor Witheridge and Maxwell Donovan have ordered Sheriff Boyd to find the killer. Everyone in town knows better than to cross the town royalty, whose hotel employs half the town.
But Sheriff Boyd’s not the only one investigating the disappearances. Anthony Evans has just arrived in town, and he’s quietly searching for answers about Ravenwoods's insidious origins. Although the residents are reluctant to speak to outsiders about what they suspect, and even more so about what they fear.
The Donovans. The curse. The witch coven.
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