Though strangers are rare in the town of Yale, and a recent double murder is still unsolved, itinerant actor Michael O'Rear wins over the people of the remote Appalachian village. Intrigued by a legend of hidden money, Michael uses his actor's talents and his gift of hypnotically lyrical gab to win the empathy, and then the hearts, of the three Pettit women. Each woman takes pleasure in Michael, whose charm and wit draw them inexorably into his play of madness -- a drama of psychological horror that threatens the weak and unsuspecting.