Seventeen-year-old Stephen Goyle leads a boring life. He wishes something would happen to add some excitement to his staid existence. Unfortunately for Stephen, it's the season for wishes-and when this one is magically granted, he may end up regretting it. Days before Christmas Eve, Stephen is transported to a land full of ice and snow. This is Winter Wonderland, and it's in terrible danger. Seeping into the realm is a dreadful evil known to the inhabitants only as the "Dark"-but it has a mysterious tie to Stephen's own past. Stephen, Winter Wonderland's new Chosen One, is the only one who can stop the evil from taking over the land forever, and time is running out. When he learns a horrifying secret about his own destiny, Stephen will have to decide whether to fight the darkness and risk being destroyed by it-or succumb to its seductive pull.