This movie is set in the mid 1800s and involves poet Edgar Allan Poe. A serial killer is on the loose and murdering people using Poe's descriptions from his published stories and poems. Poe teams up with Detective Fields, a Baltimore policeman to try and catch the killer by using his knowledge of the descriptions. Even though the stories are fictional, they start to become reality and the killer is a step ahead of them. Then it takes on a personal note as Poe's lover becomes a target. Will they stop the killer in time?

In Tokyo, Shigeharu Aoyama is a widower that grieves the loss of his wife and raises his son Shigehiko Aoyama alone. Seven years later, the teenage Shigehiko asks why his middle-aged father does not remarry and Shigeharu meets his friend Yasuhisa Yoshikawa, who is a film producer, and tells his intention. However, Shigeharu has difficulties to approach to available women to date and Yasuhisa decide to organize a sham audition for casting the lead actress for the fake movie. They receive several portfolios of candidates and Shigeharu becomes obsessed by the gorgeous Asami Yamazaki. Despite the advice of the experienced Yasuhisa, Shigeharu calls Asami to date and he falls for her. But who is the mysterious Asami?

A simple-minded circus strongman, John Sikes, has been wrongly accused of a crime committed by Wilken. On the run with his infant son, he enters an affluent house and seeks help from Ann, but is taken captive and imprisoned. Fourteen years pass. Ann has married Dr. Richard West. John, a broken man, is released early for good behaviour. He goes to find his son Robert at the orphanage, but the boy was adopted years before. A flashback shows the baby being adopted by Ann. "Slim" Sam Morton runs a ring of thieves specializing in dog-napping. John knows one of them from prison. One of the gang sells a dog to Dr. West. He also steals the keys to West's country house, The Lindens. The thieves burgle the house. In the sack of loot, John finds a box belonging to Ann, the woman he believes betrayed him years before...

After the old-books shop closes, portraits of the Strumpet, Death, and the Devil come to life and amuse themselves by reading stories--about themselves, of course, in various guises and eras. Four of the stories are literary horror stories (one by Poe, one by R. L. Stevenson), and the last one is a comedy involving a fake haunting.

Mary Shannon is a U.S. Marshal in the witness protection program who spends her time relocating federal witnesses.. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mary works with her partner, Marshall Mann, to place criminals and innocent witnesses into new lives. When not putting her life on the line to protect federal witnesses, Mary attempts to manage her dysfunctional family, including overly dependent mother, Jinx, and younger sister, Brandi, both of whom live with her. Between work and family, Mary has little time for boyfriend Raphael Ramirez who plays minor league baseball.

John is taken on a murder-fueled ride by a mysterious stranger that transforms the weak-willed, disillusioned husband and father into a desperate hero willing to go to any length to protect his family.