Russell West, his wife Gina and their two daughters move from Wisconsin to Chicago, where Russell grew up. Russell has a new job as a columnist at the Chicago Tribune. A public works employee repeatedly calls the paper about the monster he's seen in the city sewer, a creature that resembles a spider-human. Russell's colleagues think the guy is a nut job and ignore him, but Russell is curious and wants to hear more - secretly worried the monster is the thing he set free years ago.