In a small town in upstate New York, a legend returns, hungry for blood.

Marcy is nearly asleep when she hears a heavy thump outside her bedroom door. It is not her father; it is not her boyfriend. Who could it be? She cannot help but imagine the headsman — the mythical town executioner who vanished from Braddock two centuries earlier and is said to return every so often, seeking payment in blood. She knows this is nothing but a silly legend — until her door creaks open and she sees the man with the ax.

Across town, Karen dreams that she can see through the eyes of a murderer — the hulking monster that killed poor Marcy. When she wakes, she knows it was not a dream. The headsman has returned to Braddock, and hell gapes wide open behind him.