Strangers

In the verdant Shenandoah Valley of 1791, Adam Livingston's hard-won peace is shattered when a mysterious stranger arrives at his farm seeking shelter. Though grudgingly hospitable, Adam could never anticipate the otherworldly torment about to descend upon his family.

When the dying stranger reveals himself as a Catholic priest and curses the family after being denied last rites, strange phenomena begin to manifest. Scissors sounds echo through empty rooms. Valuable linens are found shredded with crescent-shaped cuts. Unexplainable hoof prints appear in the yard, while the winter wheat is destroyed in peculiar patterns.

As the haunting intensifies with each new moon, Adam fights to protect his second wife Mary Ann and their twins, while his daughter Eve, still grieving her mother, seeks spiritual solace. Eve's faith becomes her shield, but her father's stubborn rejection of religion creates a divide nearly as dangerous as the supernatural presence.

Meanwhile, the influential McSherry family establishes a Catholic outpost nearby, while Father Denis Cahill contends with ecclesiastical politics that may determine the Livingstons' fate.

Based on the legendary "Wizard Clip" haunting documented in early American history, this meticulously researched novel explores the tension between faith and skepticism, the lingering effects of grief, and the complex dynamics of blended families on the American frontier.