Crimson Hollow

Grim Tales: Crimson Hollow is the eleventh installment in the Grim Tales series by Elephant Games.

Anna’s got a new case. She is on the way to save a number of missing girls, one of whom is possibly her newfound relative, from a mysterious guy named Dorian Black. But this task may not be as simple as it seems.

Plot
"I've had no luck finding any members of the Gray family. I haven't had any clients either. I never thought I'd miss my constant family drama, but here I am..."

Rosette Darkwood, the headmistress of Darkwood Manor School for Girls, comes to Anna's detective agency. She claims her students were last seen visiting a man named Dorian Black before they disappeared. Anna goes to Dorian's mansion, Crimson Hollow, and asks him about the latest missing girl, Stacy Gray. Dorian offers to help her but later locks her up in the dungeon. Richard's ghost appears; it turns out that he's still around to help her. Anna escapes the room and finds Stacy, whom she learns is engaged to marry Dorian, and she doesn't believe Anna. Anna manages to convince Stacy to leave the mansion with her. Their attempt fails since the place is protected by Dorian's magic. In order to escape, they have to fight Dorian. Anna defeats him, but it's Stacy who stabs him and shackles Anna before running away.

With Richard's help, Anna breaks free and saves Dorian. He apologizes for hurting her, thinking she was there to kill him like his brides before Stacy. After Anna consents to help him, they follow Stacy and meet Rosette, who actually sent all of the missing girls (including Stacy) to Crimson Hollow. She wanted one of them to marry Dorian and then kill him for his secrets of immortality. Dorian tries to stop them, but his magic doesn't work because Stacy has poisoned the heart of the mansion. Anna successfully restores the heart and Dorian defeats Rosette's puppet, but not before she blows up the room to slow them down. While waiting for the staircase to rebuild itself, Anna goes to Rosette's past and finds out Rosette's plans. Dorian panics and goes after Rosette, but he's too late; Rosette has already set fire to his magical portrait. Dorian is about to die, but luckily Anna manages to save him by restoring his portrait.

Anna and Dorian follow Rosette to the dungeon, where she plans to resurrect her ancestor by sacrificing Stacy. Since they can't get to them, Richard tells Anna to go back to the past and find a way to activate the bridge mechanism. Anna goes back to the day Alistair Black, Dorian's ancestor, created the dungeon and finds the bridge key. Dorian helps Stacy just in time before Rosette kills her. Without Stacy, Rosette sacrifices herself to summon her ancestor, changing herself into a spider-like creature. Anna, Dorian, and Stacy (who's no longer under Rosette's control) fight Rosette and defeat her. When the fight is over, Stacy thanks Anna and Dorian offers to take both women to dinner.

Bonus Chapter
Dorian is about to propose to Anna when Rosette's living puppet appears and captures them. Stacy tries to help them but fails. Richard suggests that she needs to go to the past and find something to fight him. Doing a ritual, Stacy is able to go to the past where she finds a way to restore and enhance the magical mace. Richard later reveals that the tortured soul in the puppet is actually her father. Stacy successfully destroys Rosette's dark magic and frees his soul. The game ends with Anna and Dorian getting married while Stacy takes on the Gray family business with Richard's help.

Characters

 * Anna Gray: private detective who is hired to investigate the case of missing girls.
 * Dorian Black: the owner of Crimson Hollow. The missing girls are last seen visiting him.
 * Richard Gray: Anna's father, whose spirit is still around to help his daughter.
 * Stacy Gray: Rosette's student, Dorian's bride and Anna's distant relative; she is the player character of the bonus chapter.
 * Rosette Darkwood: the headmistress of Darkwood Manor School for Girls... or so she says.
 * The Puppet (bonus chapter): Rosette's living puppet, later revealed to be Stacy's father.

Trivia

 * Crimson Hollow was inspired by the 2015 American romance horror film Crimson Peak and Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
 * This is the first game in which Anna is seen as a young woman again after the incident in The Heir.
 * Richard states that Stacy is only half-Gray, but the real meaning of this remark is still unknown.
 * There are spelling errors in this game: Luisa was called Louise in a cutscene and Rosette was called Rosetta in the task list.