Adam Salton, originally from Australia, is contacted by his great-uncle, Richard Salton, in Derbyshire for the purpose of establishing a relationship between these last two members of the family. His great-uncle wants to make Adam his heir. Adam travels to Richard Salton's house in Mercia, Lesser Hill, and quickly finds himself at the center of mysterious and inexplicable occurrences.

Bram Stoker (1847-1912) was an Irish author, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. Stoker spent several years researching European folklore and mythological stories of vampires. His Dracula became a part of popular culture and it established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy.