A Renaissance influenced nineteenth-century antebellum/Dutch colonial revival mansion located in a bayou nearby New Orleans, Louisiana was a happy home to a family (presumably the Gracey family) as well as friendly resident ghosts until evil forces known as the Order of Shadows, led by the evil Atticus Thorn, terrorized the mansion including the family, causing them to abandon the home and forcing all the resident ghosts of the mansion to serve his wills.

Renowned author Ezekiel Holloway (also known as Zeke), spent most of his life in orphanages after his father's death and his mother's disappearance during the Civil War. Sometime later, he went on his own to pursue a career; his true passion was writing as he always dreamed of becoming an author. His desperation in a search for a job to help finance his passion leads him to discover a misleading newspaper advertisement about being a caretaker for the aforementioned mansion.

Making the decision to take the job, he journeys to the mansion on October 17, 1879. Upon examining the mansion on arrival, he is greeted by six friendly ghosts, who are Atticus Thorn's slaves, causing him to faint in horror. When he awakes, Zeke meets a spirit in a crystal ball named Madame Leota, who informs him of the reason he was lured, as well as the mansion's history. Leota reveals that Atticus Thorn has trapped 999 souls in the mansion as part of his attempt to take over the afterlife and should be sent into the Depths of the Afterdeath. During the briefing, she gives him a magic lantern called Beacon of Souls, which can fight off dark forces and destroy the evil for good.