The Ashford Diaries is a serialized gothic mystery unfolding day by day in letters from Ashford Manor. New here? → Start reading from the beginning.
July 14, 1947
Ashford Manor
My dearest,
I read the house like a book today.
I opened the old accounts ledger Lucy used to keep, the one with the green ribbon tied around it, tucked behind the pantry shelf. I wasn’t looking for anything, really. I just needed something solid. Something that hadn’t vanished.
But there it was. Scrawled in neat ink, 1943:
“Elena Shepard – Housekeeper (temporary).”
A name written so plainly, so officially, as if she were just another servant. But I know now—nothing was that simple.
It was her. Here. In this house. While I was gone. Before the nursery was shut.
I turned the page too quickly and tore the corner. I can still hear the paper give way—like something fragile being broken on purpose. Like a truth splitting open.
Did Lucy write her name? Did you?
I keep hearing that line again: “Elena was never a stranger to this house.”
No, she wasn’t. She walked these halls. She touched these walls. She may have tucked a child into a bed beneath this very roof.
And somehow, none of it included me.
I am beginning to feel like the ghost here.
If this is the chapter of our story I was never meant to read—then why do I feel it pulling me closer?
—Calliope.
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Thank you for reading. Always.
— Dakkota Lane, author of The Ashford Diaries, a serialized gothic mystery unfolding letter by letter.
Unfortunately I didn’t realize this was a serial until I got to the end of the letter, but what a fun discovery. I love how much is left open for the reader to engage with. Interactive art like this is really fascinating.
I’m tempted to go back and start from the beginning, but part of me wants to wait for the full series to finish so I can binge it like a Netflix show. 😂 Then I can riff off what’s there and add to the conversation through the comments. If any of it resonates, she’s welcome to carry it forward.
This is such a fantastic idea. I’ve rarely seen this kind of format outside of letters and logs in books like Dracula by Bram Stoker. I’m really glad I came across it, whether or not I can keep up, I wanted to show up and say so.
Thanks for the follow.
—Arys