Seeking to escape the demands of life in London, Pam Fitzgerald and her brother, Roddy, an aspiring playwright, discover a charming house in the west of England, overlooking the Irish Sea. The house, Cliff End, has long been empty, and they are able to purchase it at a suspiciously low price from crusty Commander Brooke, the village curmudgeon. The reason is soon apparent: The house has an unsavory reputation.

Slowly the Fitzgeralds begin to sense the evil spirit that still inhabits the house, announcing its presence with a sudden, bone-chilling cold. Their housekeeper's cat will not enter the nursery, where the sound of a weeping woman adds to the tense atmosphere.

The action eventually builds to a truly terrifying climax when the ghost is discovered to be not only real, but dangerous.