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