This allegorical satire about a man fleeing from his evil dreams was written under the influence of the Spanish Civil War. The croquet player, comfortably sipping a vermouth, listens to the strange and terrible tale of the haunted countryside. Wells' modern ghost story of a remote English Village, Cainsmarsh. Dark events are plaguing its people. A terrified farmer murders a scarecrow. Family pets are being bludgeoned to death. Loving couples are turning on each other in vicious rage. People are becoming suspicious of every move each other makes. Children are coming to school with marks on them. One observer thinks there's evil underground scattered all over the marsh, invading villagers' minds, and it's spreading. A well bred, affable & somewhat effeminate croquet player is told the strange story of Cainsmarsh and it's impending doom as if its plight was the beginning of the end of civilization.