Sixteen-year-old Alex Lambrose has just moved from San Francisco to Highland Ridge, North Carolina, an isolated town located deep in the Great Smoky Mountains. The move appears to be a dull trade off until his two new friends, Corbin Henley and Zane Fletcher, divulge a ghoulish legend about a witch named Hephzibah Dunnagan. Curious about the witch and her supposed demise, the boys head toward Dunnagan's Peak with only an antiquated map to guide them. Exploring the abandoned village for clues about the witch seems like harmless fun for the boys until Alex mysteriously uncovers an eighteenth-century journal hidden within the walls of Hephzibah's cabin. After he makes the precarious decision to stash the book in his backpack and keep it a secret, Alex must decide what to do with it. As he reads the entries, Alex not only uncovers the dark reality surrounding the legend but also his own shocking connection to Highland Ridge. Now only one question remains: what is he going to do about it?