A Box Full of Darkness

by Simone St. James

Genres: Supernatural suspense

Synopsis

Simone St. James, the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel, returns with her scariest, most shocking novel yet in this pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request: Come home.

Strange things happen in Fell, New York. A mysterious drowning at the town's roadside motel. The unexplained death of a young girl whose body is left by the railroad tracks. For the Esmie siblings—Violet, Vail, and Dodie—the final straw was the shocking disappearance of their little brother. It started as a normal game of hide-and-seek. The three closed their eyes and counted to ten while Ben went to hide. But this time, they never found their brother—he was gone and the ongoing search efforts turned up no clues.

As their parents grew increasingly distant, Violet, Vail, and Dodie were each haunted by visions and frightening events that made them leave town and never look back. Violet still sees dead people—spirits who remind her of Sister, the menacing presence that terrorized her for years.

And now after two decades running from their past, it's time for a homecoming. Because Ben is back, and he's ready to lead them to the answers they've longed for and long feared. If the ghosts of Fell don't get to them first.

A Box Full of Darkness is another propulsive thriller from the author of The Broken Girls and The Book of Cold Cases, a surprising horror story from a writer who is “particularly gifted at doling out twists” (The New York Times).

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Release date: January 20, 2026

Publisher: Berkley

Sample

Daylight Landscaping, can I help you?” A man’s deep voice answered the phone. “Henry speaking.”

 

“My name is Violet Esmie,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’m returning your call.”

 

“Right. Thanks for calling me back, Mrs. Esmie.”

 

Esmie was my birth name. I’d never taken Clay’s name when we married. I didn’t bother to correct him.

 

“What can I help you with?” I asked.

 

“Mrs. Esmie, I’m sorry to say this, but I have to terminate our contract.”

 

My throat constricted. “What? Why? I’ve been using your company for years.”

“Yes, and we appreciate your business. But unfortunately we won’t be going back to your property. We will refund a portion of your last payment and—”

 

“I don’t care about that. I care about why. Why are you doing this after all this time?”

 

Henry cleared his throat. “Mrs. Esmie, I’m going to assume you haven’t visited the property recently?”

 

I could have laughed at that, but it would have had no humor in it. None of us — not Dodie, Vail, myself, or our parents, who were now dead — had been to the Fell house in 18 years. We wouldn’t sell it, we wouldn’t demolish it and we wouldn’t go back. We’d just live with it weighing us down forever.

 

“No,” I managed. “Not recently.”

 

“My employees have concerns. They tell me ... Well, they said they’ve seen some strange things. I wrote it off at first, because it was crazy, but then some of my guys threatened to quit if I sent them back and I can’t afford that. So I went to the property myself, and I can’t write it off anymore.”

 

He sounded embarrassed. He’d assumed I’d scoff at him or disbelieve him. Instead I said, “What did you see?”

 

“I’ve been going over it and over it in my mind, you understand. I’m not the kind of person who sees things. I haven’t even told my wife. It was just so strange. But I’m never going back there — I know that much. Nothing could make me go.”

 

I had no time for this. “Who was it?”

 

Henry paused.

 

“It was a person, right? So who? Who did you see?” Was it Mom or Dad? I wondered. The thought of one of them wandering around the old house made me angry, but something told me that wasn’t it. An icy shard of cold slid into my stomach, because if it wasn’t them, it had to be — No. No.

 

Henry said, “Look, Mrs. Esmie—”

 

“Who did you see?” My voice was a hoarse shout as I cut him off.

 

“A boy,” Henry said. “A little boy standing in front of the house.”

 

Something hard hit my knees. The floor. I’d fallen to my knees without realizing it. “Did he speak?” I asked.

 

“Mrs. Esmie—”

“Did he speak?” I shouted, my voice ringing in the bedroom. “Just tell me. What did he say?”

 

Henry sounded frightened now. He wasn’t the only one. My anger had turned into sick, nauseating fear.

 

“The little boy at your house,” Henry told me. “He said, ‘Come home.’ "

 

Excerpted from A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James, published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2026.