Stained

In America around 2.5 million people die every year, and they leave behind an average of 5 grieving people each. That grief is often expressed in art. Those creations come to represent the raw, unfiltered emotions that flow through the artist. But what if something else sneaks in through those brushstrokes? The exponential nature of grief if an excellent feeding ground for the malevolent spirit of Jornos. He just needs to find a way in first.

Thea Jones, a young artist, puts the finishing touches on a commissioned piece for one of the clients of her intriguing side business. In between painting her own projects for the local gallery, she paints resting places for the dead. Contracted by grieving family members, Thea paints a scene they describe to her. She then performs a ritual she's perfected to contain the spirit of the departed. When she meets bookish Lucas Reed, he commissions her to make a piece for his recently deceased father. Obsession overtakes the project. Grisly visions from her past are brought to her by the disfigured collection of human remains called Jornos. Unable to discern fiction from reality, her relationships crumble around her. Once she notices the stains on her paintings, she finally understands what she's let in.

Thea and Lucas must confront their pasts by forgiving themselves for their worst sins. Grief is unavoidable, but we don't often see the carnage left behind as we try to pull ourselves together. Art becomes a superhighway for fear an all parts of us we're just not ready to face.