An author and his lovely wife move into an old big house left to them by his late uncle Zachariah on the condition that they are never to open a mysterious trunk there that someone will come for. The house starts driving them insane.

After years of caring for his invalid wife, newly widowed Henry Auden thinks he'll be happy living alone. His wife's friend sends him her orange tabby cat to keep him company while she's away on vacation, but the loneliness gets to him.