Ben, aged 10, is a lonely, sickly boy, mocked and bullied, reviled in the village for being a coward. The burden of a spiteful aunt, he lives and plays alone.
In a derelict house overrun with the creatures, monsters and things that inhabit his everyday world, he discovers a hidden library. It becomes his only sanctuary, the one place where he can feel safe and free.
However, his illness pulls his life away, and he wakes a ghost as all cowards will. Five other ghosts come running his way: Victoria, a silent, sunken girl who died in England in 1692; Albert, a young man from Germany who died in 1933; Wilf, a vain and pompous wolf; The Moof, an odd creature made of two; and AID (Artificially Intelligent Dummy), a faceless robot from some time in the future designed to serve man, cheaply.
All ghosts are hunted. A presence, with the power to stalk its prey through time and space, has entered the ghost dimension; its objective, to crush all ghosts out of time, to lock them in a state of infinite pain. With all ghosts eradicated, the presence will enter the dimension of the living and continue its quest to destroy all matter, to be the one lone entity that fills the void of space.
Running from the presence, Ben discovers he, too, can move through the dimension of time. This sets him apart from the other ghosts and makes him a prize for the presence to hunt.
It falls to Ben to inspire the five terrified ghosts. Alone, he goes on an adventure through time and space to find the means and strength to lead them. He learns of a mysterious book and of a powerful shield that, it is said, was once his to wield until it was taken from him unjustly.
If he can find these two objects, he believes they will enable him to release powerful forces of good that will stand ready to fight the enemy they, the cowards, dare not even name. To be successful, he must unleash a power that lies hidden in his past and discover in himself a will to fight. He must journey through time and space into a world of fantasy and legend to learn how he, a ghost, should once again live his life.
