Once Upon a Death

Once upon a time, fairy tales were meant to have endings.

When Evelyn Hale steps into an exhibition dedicated to the darker origins of the world's most beloved fairy tales, she expects old books, forgotten folklore, and perhaps a few cheap scares.

She doesn't expect to become part of one.

Dragged into a twisted world where familiar stories have turned sinister, Evie finds herself moving from one fairy tale to another, each with its own rules-and each determined to keep her until the story reaches its end.

Then she finds the gate.

Through its iron bars, Evie can see the real world. People walk past while she screams until her voice breaks.

But no one can see her.

No one can hear her.

Except for two strangers watching from the other side.

And one of them is smiling.

As Evie searches for a way home, she encounters Dorian Vale, a mysterious young man who seems to know far more about the stories than he should.

He knows where not to go.

He knows which characters cannot be trusted.

And somehow, he knows things that haven't happened yet.

The deeper Evie travels, the more the fairy tales begin to change.

Characters remember things they shouldn't.

Stories bleed into one another.

And Evie discovers the most terrifying rule of all:

Death doesn't mean the story is over.

It only means it begins again.

But escaping may come at a price far worse than dying.

Because not everyone trapped inside a story was ever meant to leave