Charles Dexter Ward's wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries. The
　　husband is a chemical engineer| and the smells from his experiments (and the delivery of what appear to be human remains at all hours) are beginning to arouse the
　(🗒)　attention of neighbors and local law enforcement officials. When the detective and wife find a diary of the husband's ancestor from 1771| and reports of gruesome
　(🈲)　murders in the area begin to surface| they begin to suspect that some very unnatural experiments are being conducted in the old house. Based on an H.P. Lovecraft