After the death of their parents the Hamilton children try to make a new life for themselves in Northern California. The eldest, David, takes on the responsibility of keeping his orphaned family together, but the task is an arduous and thankless one, the twins, Wendall and Darlene, are increasing hostile and rebellious, while the youngest, Francis, struggles with teenage angst and familial antipathy. The Hamiltons are just your ordinary, common or garden family trying to get by and find a place for themselves... ordinary that is, except for the nubile hitchhikers bound and gagged in their basement and the snarling, bloodthirsty 'thing' they keep in a locked room.