// cursed.poet
The dark lord waits at Villa Diodati.
One gothic trilogy. One cursed poet. Beyond the main books, the Byron volumes live as their own curated shelf.
Enter the VillaARC Team// villa.diodati.file
Not all dreams are only dreams.
Every year, thirteen black-sealed invitations slip through Geneva's shadows, summoning strangers, lovers, and liars to the legendary Villa Diodati. The rules are simple: thirteen guests, thirteen stories, and every tale must be true.
I had a dream, which was not all a dream. — Lord Byron
The NovelA gothic romance where storytelling is not entertainment. It is payment.
The SettingVilla Diodati, Lake Geneva, Chillon Castle, candlelight, storms, and old secrets.
The ArchivePoems, letters, confessions, and the name Gabriel Ashworth waiting in the margins.
// author.field.note
How Byron found me.
I live on the French shore of Lake Geneva, close enough to Villa Diodati that the legend feels less like history and more like weather. Last week, the gardener opened the gate and let me inside.
In the summer of 1816, Byron lived behind those green shutters. It was the Year Without a Summer: volcanic ash dimmed the sun, storms battered the lake, and a group of young writers trapped indoors dared one another to write ghost stories.
Mary Shelley began Frankenstein there. Byron left pieces of his darkest myth behind. And years before I stood at the Villa, on a Halloween night in Nernier, the lake, the stone, and the storm gave me the first image of the cursed poet who would not leave.
The Dark Lord of Villa Diodati opens in October 2026. ARC applications open in August.
// trilogy.and.archive
One trilogy. One archive. One myth behind the door.
Begin with the three gothic novels of The Cursed Poet. Then enter the separately published Byron / Gabriel archive: poetry, letters, fragments, and the voice behind the myth.
Book Two / The Cursed Poet Trilogy
The Queen of All Hallows
Before Villa Diodati. Before the storm. London, 1815: Byron follows a woman he should never have trusted into a bargain of desire, pride, and darkness. Six months to find a love powerful enough to save him before the muse becomes the curse.
Book Three / The Cursed Poet Trilogy
Fall Into the Storm
Some invitations should never be accepted. Indie author Cara Ashford crosses Lake Geneva to see Villa Diodati and meets Gabriel Ashworth, a man who knows her unpublished novel as if he remembers it. Thirteen nights. A lost collection. A story that begins to write her back.
// published.byron.archive
The published Byron / Gabriel archive.
These separately published curated editions are companion volumes, not extra novels in the main trilogy: beauty, guilt, spirits, scandal, letters, exile, revenge, darkness, captivity, and the darker rooms of the myth.
// fictional.character.file
Gabriel Ashworth
Gabriel Ashworth is Lord Byron reimagined inside Cara Ravelli’s fictional Cursed Poet universe. His story begins in The Dark Lord of Villa Diodati.
“Everyone thinks they know my story. They know the scandals, the poetry, the club foot, the dramatic death in Greece at thirty-six. They call me the original Byronic hero—brooding, dangerous, irresistible. They have no idea.”
Fiction & History
The Cursed Poet Series is a work of fiction inspired by the life, legend, and poetry of Lord Byron. Historical names, places, and public-domain literary references appear throughout, but the events, supernatural elements, private writings, and Byron’s voice belong to the fictional world of the novels.
Vol. 1 / Moon + Rose
She Walks in Beauty
Byron, uncensored: beauty, longing, secret ache, and the poems that still feel whispered at 2am.
Book PageVol. 2 / Raven + Chain
Manfred & The Damned
The dark Byron: mountains, spirits, guilt, and a man who would rather suffer than be forgiven.
Book PageVol. 3 / Masquerade
Don Juan: Selected Scandals
Byron with his guard down: gossiping, seducing, mocking himself, and smiling while the room burns.
Book PageVol. 4 / Wax + Quill
Letters & Fragments
The unguarded Byron: letters, fragments, flirtation, enemy complaints, and truths never meant for readers.
Book PageVol. 5 / Compass + Column
Childe Harold: Selected Cantos
A man leaves everything behind and discovers the one thing he cannot escape is himself.
Book PageVol. 6 / Dagger + Ribbon
The Giaour
Forbidden love, betrayal, and revenge told in broken fragments, where the gaps are part of the wound.
Book PageVol. 7 / Eclipse
Darkness
The sun goes out, the world ends, and Byron writes dread like he has already seen the last light vanish.
Book PageVol. 8 / Chillon + Chain
The Prisoner of Chillon
Byron’s devastating poem of captivity, memory, and the slow loss of hope—presented with an introduction by Gabriel Ashworth and photographs taken at Château de Chillon by Cara Ravelli.
Book PageThe Dedication
To Lord Byron — cursed poet, scandal-maker, and maybe the first true father of dark romance.
Join ARC / Listener Team// lake.geneva
A real lake. A legendary storm.
The Cursed Poet is rooted in Lake Geneva: Villa Diodati, Chillon Castle, literary ghosts, and the places where history already feels half-haunted.
// stay.dangerous
Enter the private list.
New releases, secret soundtracks, audiobook news, and the occasional ruinous temptation.