Based loosely on H.P. Lovecraft's short story: HAUNTER OF THE DARK. An artist, Robert Pickman, becomes obsessed by visions of unworldly horror, revealed to him through an ancient artifact discovered in an abandoned church. His doctor and friend, Ambrose Dexter, becomes embroiled in the mysteries surrounding Pickman's new found obsession, and struggles to combat forces determined to drag Pickman down the inevitable road to madness.