Upon moving to the Midwest, Juanita "Nita" Luisa Mendez explores her family's new home and stumbles upon a stuffed gorilla, locked away in a unique attic. When the stuffed gorilla begins to haunt her nightly, desperation fills her. Not only is she attending a new school, but she's now overtired, and that catches the eye of a group of bullies who torment her. If it were just a stuffed gorilla and a few bullies, maybe Nita could overcome her adversities; but soon the horrific shadow people come after her, and Nita is caught up in a whirlwind of terror.
Nita befriends a boy named Bobby, and together they explore a strange blue light in Nita's attic. By accident, the two teenagers find themselves transported into a parallel world inhabited by an entity called Shade, who feeds on shadows and can also control them within earthly vessels like the stuffed gorilla. Running from Shade, they come across all forms of bewildering flora and fauna, some of which can aid them in their quest to get back home safely. But it isn't until they run into Spark, one of the beings who originally called Shade's realm home, that they learn the true nature of this strange place.