Sutter Kane (Jürgen Prochnow), a best-selling horror novelist, disappeared mysteriously. A part of the manuscript of the novel he was about to publish also disappeared mysteriously. Kane's immersive description and bold forward-looking predictions made this book famous before it was published. Many fans were obsessed with his works and even committed irrational violent acts. In order not to delay the publication, the publisher brought in private detective John Trent (Sam Neill) and female editor Linda Stiles (Julie Carmen) to track down Kane's whereabouts. John did not believe in the magic of the book at first, but when he and Linda arrived at the town written by Kane, they were both shocked. This town is really as described by Kane, and the horrible and weird things in the novel happened immediately.