Ghost Micajah “Cage” Aldrich enters and animates a sculpted male figure in art student Imogen’s Mortensen’s studio. After staggering away, Cage locates his only allies: Sabine, a psychic, and her husband Regent Johnson. Yet he feels cannot complete the adjustment to his new life unless he tells Imogen the truth.
Despite his attraction to Imogen, the obsession for revenge consumes Cage. In 1819, Genevieve Vetivier, a supernatural creature called a “boo-hag”, ordered him drowned and condemned him to a ghostly existence after he witnessed her power. Her body’s muscles could loosen from her skin. Cage travels to the site of his murder, the House with the Falchion Gate. After re-experiencing his death, his vendetta grows, as does his yearning for Imogen.
Genevieve, now named Christine, preserved her beauty over two centuries by killing and stealing the skins of young runaways. Christine plans to slay her adopted daughter Lucy and assume her identity. Cage befriends Lucy and convinces her of Christine’s plot. He, Lucy and Imogen catch Christine unaware, and desiccate the skinless hag with salt.