The year is 1902 - the twilight of the Gilded Age. A ship, its crew decimated, docks in New York City carrying a strange cargo: a long, heavy box held bounds with chains and padlocks. An ancient vampyre has arrived seeking the source of an unlimited power. When young society belle Madison Blanchford becomes the vampyre's next target, her suitor Doctor Jordan Moore joins with renegade Anglican priest Alfred James Montague and Percy Masters, a former soldier, to save her. In the process, they discover that only Madison, heir to an ancient secret, may possess the key to stop the vampyre and ultimately save the world. Suspense, history and the occult combine in an unforgettable Gothic tale beautifully illustrated in the style of Victorian artist Sidney Paget.