Residents of the small, isolated Pennsylvania village of Covington, seemingly in the 18th or 19th century, live in fear of nameless creatures in the surrounding woods and have constructed a large barrier of oil lanterns and watch towers that are constantly manned to keep watch. After the funeral of a seven-year-old boy, Lucius Hunt asks the village elders for permission to pass through the woods to get medical supplies from neighbouring towns. However, his request is denied. Later, his mother Alice scolds him for wanting to visit the neighbouring towns which the villagers describe as wicked. The Elders also appear to have secrets of their own and keep physical mementos hidden in black boxes, the contents of which are reminders of the evil and tragedy they left behind when they left the towns. After Lucius makes a short venture into the woods, the creatures leave warnings in the form of splashes of red paint on all the villagers' doors.

You are one of the monsters, you wear a pure red cloak with hood and yellow, you fear yellow like other monsters, you only attack at night if you see a red object or flower, you spy and watch from rocks and trees, spying on the village and with hunger, you don't hesitate, you were different, a different monster, a hybrid, a human and a monster, you were small and fast, catching your human prey with hunger, men with yellow cloaks and hood observe from wooden towers, one with a bell, incase a monster invaded and attacks at night

The village is circled by a large yellow circle, leaving a ton of space of grass in the village, torches lighted up on the circle at night