Synopsis

Erna needs to rent out her mother’s cottage. Many prospective tenants are put off when told of the graves in the back garden and even more so when Sonia from the Local Information Centre writes a book 'The Witches of Deepton' about the lives of past owners of the cottage. 

George however seems more interested in the fact that the previous tenant for the past twenty years was the well-known, now deceased, horror writer Adrian Steel and hopes some of his talent will rub off on him and his own writing. 

But was Adrian’s death natural, why had he nailed up the attic door and why is the alcove of the room bricked up.  Why had Adrian’s character changed so much in the weeks before his death?  Why had his housekeeper had a breakdown on finding his body, and where does the cat keep appearing from?  Was Erna’s mother really jilted by her first love at the altar, and was there actually ever a disfigured child kept hidden in the attic?  

Is there any truth in Sonia’s book or is it all from her vivid imagination and is it to get inspiration for his writing the real reason George wants to rent the cottage or is there another ulterior motive?  Have Leo’s building skills always been used for good and will they be in the future?  George discovers the truth, or does he, and what is the outcome of his search for the truth.

Characters

(3m, 6f)

• George Mills - early 30s
• Marie Venables - 40s
• Erna Wallace - late 50s
• Brenda Tennyson - late 20s, tomboyish
• Jack Adams - 20s
• Kathy Edgecombe - 60s
• Sonia Cressett - late 40s
• Annette Harding - 40
• Leo Harding - 60