On the third day of their fishing holiday to the remote Irish village, two friends stumble upon the ruins of a strangely shaped house on a large lake. They discover the moldering journal of the Recluse, an unidentified man who recorded his last days in the house before its destruction. He started the diary to record the strange experiences and horrors occurring in and around the house.

William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918) was an English author who produced many short stories and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction, and science fiction. Hodgson used his experiences at sea to lend authentic detail to his short horror stories, many of which are set on the ocean.