In the gloomy, haunted House of the Seven Gables, recluse Hepzibah Pyncheon cares for her brother Clifford. The child-like, yet beautifully poetic Clifford has languished in prison thirty years for a murder he might not have committed. Possibly the evidence against him was rigged by his cousin Jaffrey, the eminent judge, who now pursues him to some evil end. Bringing charm to the house is Phoebe Pyncheon, Hepzibah’s young cousin, visiting from the country. Boarding in one of the gables is a mysterious young man, Holgrave, who is attracted to Phoebe.

Threatening all is the curse of Matthew Maule: “God will give you blood to drink!” Maule was hanged for witchcraft in 1692, thanks to Colonel Pyncheon, family patriarch, who desired Maule’s land on which to erect the house. Ever since, the Pyncheons’ history has been riddled with unexplained deaths and ghostly encounters. Now the final chapter of that history is written.