The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
Chris Wooding
 The story begins with Thaniel Fox hunting Wych-kin in the abandoned regions of London. He starts thinking about his childhood and how his mother was brutally murdered in an abandoned graveyard in Whitechapel when he was six years old and how his father, Jedriah Fox, had trained him in the art of Wych-hunting before he too died, leaving Thaniel alone. Hunting the Wych-kin down he eventually finds its lair and during the chase he is attacked by a girl, same age as him, in a confused state. This girl, the titular Alaizabel Cray, was brought back to his house while he tried to figure out what to do with her. Leaving her under the guard of Cathaline Bennett (a friend of his father's who became his teacher then friend), Thaniel began making enquiries at the mental wards run by Dr. Mammon Pyke, an associate who had often helped Thaniel treat the victims of the certain types of Wych-kin that caused madness. On this instance however, Thaniel got the impression that Pyke had an ulterior motive and gave the doctor false information concerning the girl. That night the killer Stitch-Face strikes again, Ms. Marey Woolbury who is a prostitute. During Alaizabel's slow recovery it becomes apparent that she has no memory of her past life apart from her name. Unbeknownst to any of them The Wych-kin Fraternity is watching them and waiting for their chance to recapture what is theirs. Eventually Thaniel is given another chance to kill the Wych-kin that eluded him the night he found Miss Cray. With the help of Inspector Maycraft he finally kills it, only to find that something has gone wrong in his absence. Thatch, a spirit that has remain dormant in Alaizabel, has awoken and takes control of her. During their attempt to understand what's happening; Thaniel and Cathaline discover that she was tattooed with the chackh'morg. This symbol allows ghosts, in this case the spirit Thatch, to enter Alaizabel's body, thus explaining the supernatural events surrounding Alaizabel. Despite his best attempts at keeping Thatch down and Alaizabel safe, Thatch almost escapes and a Wych-kin called Congealed Darkness, sent by the Fraternity, almost kidnaps her. Realizing the futility of hiding, Thaniel takes his friends to the safety of the Crooked Lanes. Thaniel and Cathaline decide to flee to an area called the crooked lanes where Thaniel has a friend called Crott, a beggar Lord, who owes him a favour due to his father's attempt to save Crott's wife. In return for ridding the lanes of a recent Wych-kin invasion he will be granted safe passage. The Wych-kin is defeated; but not without loss of life. Stitch-Face strikes again, this time targeting a deaf "God-fearing woman", a Ms. Priscena Weston. In her panic, Ms. Weston runs into a pack of wolves who attack her and chase away Stitch-face. Ms. Westen is miraculously saved when a man whose job it is to hunt large animals in Alaska and who is visiting family, kills the wolves and saves Ms. Westen's life. Meanwhile Inspector Maycraft and his partner inspector Carver are on the trail of a murderer known as the green tack killer who is believed to be Stitch-Face. Carver does not believe that but Maycraft refuses to listen. Eventually, as part of their deal, Crott uncovers someone who knows about Alaizabel's past, Perris The Boar. Perris tells them that Alaizabel was used by the Fraternity, an evil cult, led by none other than Dr. Pyke himself, which is bent on world destruction. They killed her parents and placed the spirit of Thatch inside her. During this time Thaniel and Alaizabel get closer. That night, Stitch-Face attacks Dr. Pyke's secretary, Lucinda Watt, and gathers information on the Fraternity's plans, leaving her body as a warning to the other members. By this point Carver realizes that Maycraft cannot be trusted and seeks out the beggar lord. He and Crott share information and thus Thaniel gains a new ally. Crott's Devil Boy Jack, a fortune teller of the highest order, whose eyes are sewn shut, predicts that the darkness is coming as soon as the last green tack murder takes place. The last victim's name is Leanna Butcher. The Green Tack murders are a series of sacrifices that, when all placed on a map, form the shape of the Chackh'morg. While trying to save the final victim, Thaniel realises that the culprit it really a Wych-kin called Rawhead, summoned by the Fraternity to carry out the killings, and although Thaniel defeated the monster, it succeeded in mortally wounding the unfortunate victim. The Fraternity also manage to kidnap Alaizabel from under his nose at the same time. Alaizabel has the spirit of Thatch removed and put inside a more obedient host body and she is left for dead in a cell. She escapes but is captured by Stitch-face. Thaniel, defeated and heartbroken over the loss of Alaizabel and knowing that he failed to stop the Green Tack killings and as a result all of the Fraternity's plans have now come to fruition, retreats and is about to give up. The others prepare for the inevitable as the victim dies and the darkness arrives upon London. The next day London is covered by red clouds blotting out the sun and the Wych-kin run rampant through the streets. This is only stage one of the Fraternity's plans. During this Stitch-Face, for reasons best known to himself, has mercy and returns Alaizabel to Thaniel who, reinvigorated by his love's return, leads the street gangs of London in their fight against the Fraternity. During this time Carver comes up with a plan to stop the Fraternity from completing the second and final stage of their evil scheme by invading their base and killing Lady Thatch. Thatch, it turns out, is essential to their plans as she is the only one who knows how to summon the Glau Meska, the Fraternity's hell gods. In order to get there they must acquire an airship, but have to travel overland in order to get one. Along the way the Devil Boy reveals that he knows who is going to die and survive but will not tell for fear of changing the outcome. Along the way, as the Devil Boy predicted, they lose Crott and his companion, Armand, to a group of Wych-kin called the Draug. Eventually they make it to the airship and now have safe passage to the Fraternity's HQ, an until now hidden Cathedral in the southern area of London, as no Wych-kin can fly. When they reach the castle Alaizabel reveals that she has retained some of Lady Thatch's memories and is able to gain access to their base. The pilot is told to stay put while they try to hunt down Thatch. On the way to the Cathedral, Thaniel reveals to Alaizabel how her arrival affected him emotionally for the better. After hearing this, Alaizabel kisses him. Dr. Pyke, enraged by the intrusion during the final stages of his plan and the most delicate part of the whole operation, releases the Wych-dogs. Only the memory of the aforementioned kiss he had shared with Alaizabel keeps Thaniel going. During the battle with the Wych-dogs, Carver is wounded and the Devil Boy reveals that he also foresaw his own death and is in the process of telling Thaniel that they will win in the end when he is shot by Curien Blake, Pyke's American assassin. Outside, the Airship pilot loses his nerve and decides to flee. Unable to cut the rope anchoring him to the castle, he drops the ship's payload and destroys the anchor rope and most of the castle wall. Inspector Maycraft, who has been one of Pyke's minions all along, is killed in the blast. Blake states that he was always a fan of Thaniel's father and challenges Thaniel to a duel. During this one-on-one knife fight, Cathaline is shot in the hand and Blake is defeated. Stalking deeper into the Castle, they find Thatch but Pyke shoots Thaniel in the stomach, but not fatally, before they can stop her. He also tells them of the true nature of the Wych-kin and how they came to exist. He says that when people came to rely completely on science and started to completely believe that God didn't exist is when the Wych-kin came about. Because when people still believed in God they had someone to blame for the evil, hate, and everything else that is bad in the world. But when the belief in God began to wane, people didn't know what to do with the blame and so subconsciously created the Wych-kin. However the damaged wall had allowed the Wych-kin to gain access to the castle and they begin killing the cultists. In the confusion Pyke escapes but Thaniel is able to kill Thatch just as Thatch is about to finish the spell that would have awoken the Deep Ones. The Wych-kin are all destroyed as the red clouds dissipate and they are caught out in the sunlight. With the defeat of the Fraternity, Thaniel and Alaizabel have now fully fallen in love and have gone to live together to some unknown place. Carver reflects on the better world emerging now that the Wych-kin are fully acknowledged and Stitch-Face begins hunting down any survivors of the Fraternity, beginning with an unsuspecting Dr. Mammon Pyke.