“Even in the darkest corners, a fragile, flickering light of understanding can still be found…”

At Velmont Academy, a secluded institution perched above the churning sea, history doesn’t sleep—it lingers. Elena Verden, a brilliant scholar of ancient symbology, arrives at the academy to partake in a long-standing ritual known as The Bell Tower Bride—a symbolic reenactment meant to honor tradition. But as she dons the ceremonial gown and ascends the spiral staircase of the crumbling tower, she begins to unravel far more than faded myths.

Haunted by visions of a murdered bride named Annelise, Elena finds herself caught in a spectral echo of a centuries-old tragedy. As the boundary between her mind and Annelise’s memory begins to erode, Elena must navigate the depths of inherited trauma, forbidden love, and a legacy of violence cloaked in academic grandeur. Alongside Lucien Thorne, a reserved symbologist with ancestral ties to the original crime, she unearths a chilling truth: the ritual is not a performance. It’s a tether to an ancient, malevolent entity—one that feeds on pain, memory, and sacrifice.

The Bell Tower Bride is a spellbinding gothic novel steeped in psychological horror, academic mystery, and slow-burn romance. Through chilling flashbacks, richly layered prose, and eerie elegance, Wanda M. Alicea Ruiz crafts a haunting meditation on grief, resilience, and the possibility of healing even in the shadow of overwhelming sorrow.