服装设计师艾米丽(蕾莎·海利 Leisha Hailey 饰)与丈夫内德(盖尔·哈罗德 Gale Harold 饰)正全心全意等待一个新生命的到来,然而意外的小产却让夫妻二人的生活跌入谷底。为了重新找到生活的希望,夫妻二人选择搬到内德的祖屋居住。这是一幢有着上百年历史的老房子,四周是一望无际的青翠旷野,令人倍感心旷神怡。然而这份恬淡的心情并未持续太久,艾米丽渐渐感到这个房子内有些不太对劲的地方,甚至某天更在院子的水管内发现一个斑驳的骷髅头,并且骷髅头有着150年的历史。自此之后,艾米丽开始有意识地去探访祖屋的过去,结果得知在过去得150年里,这所房子曾经发生过无数起命案
During a cross-country lecture tour, notoriously acerbic radio personality Sheridan Whiteside slips on the icy steps of the house of the Stanleys, a prominent Ohio family, and is forced to recuperate in their home during the Christmas holidays. The overbearing, self-centered celebrity soon comes to dominate the lives of the residents and everyone else who enters the household. He encourages young adults Richard and June Stanley to pursue their dreams, much to the dismay of their conventional father Ernest. Meanwhile, Whiteside's spinster assistant Maggie Cutler finds herself attracted to local newspaperman Bert Jefferson. When she reads Bert's play, she is so impressed she asks Whiteside to show it to his contacts, and then announces she will quit his employment and marry Bert. However, her boss is loath to lose such an efficient aide and does his best to sabotage the blossoming romance...