Long before foreign ships reached the islands, there was a village hidden between the sea and the ancient forest of Gubat Marilim. The people of Talindaw lived by the old ways. They respected the spirits of the rivers, feared the darkness beyond the trees, and followed the warnings passed down by their ancestors. One of those warnings was simple: Never answer when someone calls your name from the forest after sunset. For generations, no one dared to break the rule. Until a fisherman disappeared. Three days later, he returned. He looked the same. He spoke the same. He remembered his family. But something about him was wrong. Then Liraya began hearing voices from beneath the houses-voices belonging to people who had been dead for years. As more villagers vanish and others mysteriously return, fear spreads through Talindaw. No one knows what is happening, and soon the villagers begin questioning the people closest to them. Because whatever is hiding in Gubat Marilim does not simply kill its victims. It brings them back. And Liraya is beginning to suspect that some of the people she loves may have already returned. But the deeper she searches for the truth, the more terrifying the question becomes: If the dead can return wearing the faces of the living... how can anyone know who is still human? And when a voice that should have been buried forever begins calling Liraya's name from the darkness- will she be brave enough not to answer?

Some forests hide secrets. Some never let you leave. Madeline "Maddie" Sullivan and her friends travel to the remote Mt. Blackveil, expecting a peaceful week of hiking, laughter, and unforgettable memories. Instead, their trip becomes a nightmare when one of them suddenly disappears. No footprints. No blood. No explanation. Then another disappears. As Maddie and her boyfriend, Logan Hayes, search deeper into the endless forest, they begin finding strange black ribbons tied to the trees and signs that someone has been watching them. Their search eventually leads them to an abandoned Victorian mansion hidden deep within the woods. Blackveil Manor. Inside, they uncover a dark history of disappearances, forgotten deaths, and a family secret that was never meant to be discovered. But the deeper Maddie and Logan venture into Mt. Blackveil, the more they realize that the forest isn't as empty as it seems. Someone is out there. Watching. Waiting. And slowly picking them off one by one. Now Maddie must find her missing friends before the darkness surrounding Blackveil claims them all. Because once you enter the woods... the hardest part isn't finding your way out. It's surviving long enough to escape.