London, 1888. Tessa d'Arblay is the 22-year-old daughter of an eccentric widower-clergyman living in the East End. The household is managed by her even more eccentric aunt, a situation that leads Tessa to seek the help of one Dr. Segal, a noted Victorian brain specialist. Her innocent enquiries draw her into a bizarre and ultimately horrific sequence of events.
Through Dr. Segal, she meet the strangely compelling Dante Rosen, a successful artist and member of the Oscar Wilde set. Another of her new acquaintences, budding actress Connie Saunders, warns Tessa against any involvement with Rosen, whom she thinks of as Satan made flesh. But Tessa comes to believe Segal is the evil influence, not her beloved Dante. Too late she learns the dreadful truth, more appalling than even Connie Saunder's wildest imaginings...
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