Brothers Philip and Edmund are appointed parish priests of the small Kentish village of Scawsby, and quickly decide to build a new church and graveyard for the aging, secretive town. Proceeding against the protests of the county lords, the two commence with an ambitious plan to relocate the graves to the new site. To their horror and bafflement, coffins are uncovered empty, others with the remains of townsfolk buried alive. As Philip investigates the murky histories of the hamlet, grisly murders and strange disappearances recur, only to lead the men into a final, shattering climax of evil and peril.