The Muse

If you love chilling hauntings, sinister mysteries and stories that mess with your head—this one’s for you.

A failing marriage. A remote cottage. A haunting that won’t be ignored.

Desperate to save their crumbling relationship, Cara and Mitch Lowe retreat to an isolated holiday cottage deep in the Scottish Highlands. But The Retreat holds unsettling secrets of its own — rooms larger than they should be, locks on every interior door, and a strange atmosphere that seems to close in tighter each day.

A booking mix-up leaves the reclusive owner, a mysterious artist known only as Quinn, living on the property. His disturbing yet mesmerising artwork fills every room, each painting centred on the same haunting figure — a woman called Meredith.

As Cara becomes increasingly drawn to Quinn’s macabre creations, the ghost of Meredith begins to manifest, desperate for Cara’s attention. But who is this spectral woman? What dark truths are hidden in the brushstrokes? And what terrifying secrets lie at the heart of The Retreat — secrets that may destroy more than just Cara’s marriage.

Some places were never meant to be escaped.

The Retreat promised solitude.
It delivered something far more sinister.

THE MUSE, by R.H. Dixon was the perfect psychological horror novella for the season. The story starts out slowly, building on the atmosphere and uncertainty in general, all around. Once it gets going, and things begin to be revealed, it was impossible to tear myself away. 

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