Merrie DeStefano

Shade Merrie DeStefano

A dangerous holiday. A deadly curse brought to life.

When Mary Wollstonecroft Godwin accepted an invitation to Lord Byron's house party deep in the Swiss Alps, she hoped it would serve as a welcome distraction from her broken heart. Instead, she finds herself surrounded by enigmatic guests with their own dangerous secrets to hide. From the moment of her arrival, the party is more than it seems, as Mary and the others are strictly forbidden from leaving the villa after dark. But tales of feral beasts aren't the only rumors whispering through the halls. Doctor John Polidori, a handsome and mysterious party guest, fervently pursues local legends that the dead can rise, ruled by their own barbaric king. When the group plays a game of storytelling to pass the time, they weave together tales of nightmarish ghouls and horrible villains inspired by the myths-and Mary soon realizes their harmless stories have the power to conjure.

Twisted creatures will come to call. The dead will stalk the villa. And their royal master will stop at nothing to claim Mary as his own...




2019 Realm Award Winner in Supernatural/Paranormal/Horror


2019 Moonbeam Children's Book Award, Silver Medal Winner, Young Adult Fiction-Horror/Mystery




"Beautiful and atmospheric."

"Merrie takes the reader on a Gothic horror thrill ride through Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin's eyes..."

"Shade hit the ground running from page 1."

"Again, Merrie Destefano keeps a relentless, page-turning pace that will leave you at the end breathless and anxious..."

"A beautifully written story that reminded me of the TV miniseries, The Frankenstein Chronicles, which I also loved."

"Shade is an imaginative and fantastical recreation of not just Frankenstein, but the entire tale regarding how Mary Shelley came up with the story!"

"Merrie Destefano breathes new life into the Gothic horror genrewith SHADE, a gorgeously written re-imagining of FRANKENSTEIN from the point-of-view of Mary Godwin."

"With its haunting imagery, electrical tension, and compelling characters, SHADE will appeal to fans of Ransom Rigg's MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN and Angela Carter's THE BLOODY CHAMBER."

For fans of the Netflix program, THE FRANKENSTEIN CHRONICLES, AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White, SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY by Susan Dennard, and BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA.