Instead of chasing boys on the beach with her friends, recent college grad Dora finds herself caring for her reclusive Great Aunt in snowy upstate New York. When the imaginative girl discovers her aunt's hidden romantic past, Dora dreams that their revelation will pull Aunt Vera and herself from their mutual depressions.

After the mysterious death of his Aunt, a confirmed skeptic lawyer, Bryan Becket, dismisses reports that his Aunt's house is haunted and moves in. Immediately occurrences begin he cannot explain. And beyond the occurrences there is something about the house which gnaws at Becket - some strange connection he senses he has with the house's past. Soon, the haunting turns personal, he hears voices suggesting clues to a deep mystery. He questions his sanity, seeks medical help, but instead finds assistance in a young psychic who immediately declares, "There's a very bad secret in this house." Together they embark on a terrifying journey to uncover the secret - a journey which leads them deep into the recesses of The Skeptic's own troubled mind.

In 1958, in New York City, the upper class Diane Arbus is a frustrated and lonely woman with a conventional marriage with two daughters. Her husband is a photographer sponsored by the wealthy parents of Diane, and she works as his assistant. When Lionel Sweeney, a mysterious man with hypertrichosis (a.k.a. werewolf syndrome, a disease that causes excessive body hair), comes to live in the apartment in the upper floor, Diane feels a great attraction for him and is introduced to the world of freaks and marginalized people, falling in love with Lionel.