Once renowned for her villainous performance as Lady Macbeth, Ms. Josephine "Jo" Rose is an eccentric recluse aging alone in a decaying Victorian. As a favor for her best friend, Haley Fields visits with Ms. Rose. Haley is a librarian and writer, and Ms. Rose wants her to write What Ever Happened to Helga the Hag?, a play that will return her to theatrical fame.

When Haley shares her own writings, thinly veiled fictions of personal trauma, Ms. Rose ensnares her in a sinister plot of vengeance, violence, and blood.

There's a toxic male inside every man, Ms. Rose says.

But what's inside a woman can be much more frightening.

And deadly.