Poppy Darke is a liar; she is a thief and a bully. After receiving an 'Anti-social-behaviour order' for shoplifting and vandalism, her Pregnant Mother takes her to live in the countryside, far from the temptations of City and gang life. Wrenched away from her friends and everything she knows, she's lonely and miserable. Hiding in the cemetery one day she makes a gruesome discovery, one which plunges her kicking and screaming into the terrifying world of strange powers, Goyles, ghosts and Witches. Soon after birth, her brother is abducted by Gargle Skuttlebucket, the Goyle servant of an evil Witch. The Police search gets underway and fingers of blame are soon pointed squarely at Poppy, scared and angry she runs away into the night. There, during a terrifying thunder storm she finds out that her only friend is really a ghost and her Grandfathers hound is really the 'black dog' of myth and legend. They set out on a nightmarish journey into hell and are soon joined by the young Goyle, Slurpe Rottenoffle. Together they must escape the clutches of malicious spirits, defeat the foulest of all Goyles and battle a vicious mutant cat before Poppy Darke can finally face her destiny.