Nellie Gardner is looking for a way out of an abusive marriage when she learns that her long-lost grandfather, August Redfern, has willed her his turpentine estate.

It turns out that the "estate" is a decrepit farmhouse on a thousand acres of old pine forest, but Nellie is so thrilled about the chance for a fresh start for her and her son, that she doesn't notice that there's something wrong with Redfern Hill. Something lurks beneath the soil, ancient and hungry, with the power to corrupt hearts and destroy souls.