From her harrowing introduction in Darkhouse, the spectre known as ''Creepy Clown Lady'' has been a constant fixture in Perry Palomino''s life. But beyond the horrid makeup and piercing stare lies Pippa, a woman just like everyone else. Well, not quite.

When Perry discovered Pippa''s message to her and Dex on the EVP recordings, she thought she''d heard the last of the old woman''s mes­sage. She was wrong. In the novella Old Blood, Pippa relays the tale of her troubled and tortured past, revealing how an aspiring actress and loving mother fell into madness and how an unfathomable betrayal led to her untimely death. For Perry, the repercussions of her message are life-shattering.