While investigating a gruesome double murder, police detective Emmett Fields (Evans) discovers that the crime scene mirrors the setting depicted in one of Edgar Allan Poe's (Cusack) works of fiction. Suspecting Poe at first, Fields ultimately enlists his help to catch the killer. In a deadly game of cat and mouse, the stakes are raised when Poe's true love, Emily Hamilton (Eve), is taken by the killer, sending the pair racing to catch a madman before the next story is brought to life