A Ionely house at the edqe of the woods, in Massachusetts. Inside, a tali, aus-tere man hears strange soun ds, Iike the music of a nursery rhyme, which iead him to the cellar: his Iittle giri stands there in a corner, holdin q biood-stained scissors, while a dead cat Iies on the stairs. The man, appalied, lo&ks the chiid in the cellar, in the dark, as punishment. She ciutches a iarge clown doll for comfort. Upstairs, he is chan~g ing a burnt-out bulb. The new buib swells and bursts in his foce. A disembodie arm gri p ping an axe attacks him, splitting his skull. As his ter-rified wife stares at him, the h uge mirror over, the mantIe iece begins to sweii and explodes. The poor'woman is sprayed with deadly, ficis ing slivers of glass. She staggers back, but a fleshless hand piunges a dcgger tnto her throat. The quiet of the grave settles aver the house. Twenty years Iater, in the spring of 1987, a Boston radio operator, PauI, picks up a freak signal, something that sounds Iike an S.O.S. a man's voice cries out for help and a g in screams. PauI telis Martha, his steadyq in, that he has to find out where the message carne from. He makes careful ca [cui ation on his computer and they both set out on the most hairraisin q adventure of their young Iives. The very next night, Pau I tunes in on the same frequency, at the same time, and waits. Meanwhile, in ~he house, eeries sounds Iure Jim to the cellar and sees a Iittle giri dressed in white, clutching o grinning clown doii. Jim screams the words PauI recorded the night before, and dies of a horrible death. One by one the young meet with death. OnIy Susan escapes the horror, while PauI ond Martha vio ate the grave of the Iittle g in in the white dress and burn the stili-unspoiled body. Ali at once, the fury is p Facated; the evii chain is broken. Doys Ioter, Matha is hurnying along a sun-drenched street near Boston harbor. Something in a stare window catches her eye: a grinning, ciow-aced dall. PauI sees her from across the street and waves, but Martha can't tear her eyes from the doIi's mirthiess eyes. A screech of tires, a biast of horns, and PauI is crushed under the wheels of an on-caming bus. Martha knows the circie of evil hasn't been broken yet - but who is to be next victim?