When Garland Heatherford is named heir to his uncle's vast fortune, he isn't pleased by the honor, and with good reason. The last five heirs all met with most untimely deaths - four of them from drowning.

Although loathe to accept his inheritance, Garland nevertheless travels to the "cursed" town of Bath, North Carolina, to meet his aged uncle, hoping to avoid the fate of his predecessors. But Garland has something in his favor the other heirs didn't: his lover, Geoffrey Wainwright.

The sight of the decaying hulk of Heatherford House dismays both men, yet they have little choice but to enter a world where a miasma of horror lies beneath a veneer of breeding, and madness and death seem to lurk in every corner. Ruling over all is the presence of sinister Roderick Heatherford, who has managed to outlive five young, healthy heirs despite his allegedly poor health.

When an unexpected illness strikes Garland and he begins to sleepwalk, lured from bed by singing only he can hear, Geoffrey resolves to protect Garland from every danger - even if it costs him his own life. .