A young man named John is chased through the mountains by a beautiful young woman named Evadare. He reflects on what happened when he first met her in her home in Hosea's Hollow - a place where Native American legends say a monster named Kalu resides. After the Native Americans who lived there were displaced, a man named Hosea went to face the monster. While he never returned, neither did Kalu. Both disappeared.

John has always been a wanderer and he is a musician too. As he travels, he comes across two things in Hosea's Hollow. The first is Hosea's grave marked by a cross with a prayer inscribed on it. He decides a friend must have buried him. The second is the home where Evadare lives by herself. He meets the young woman when he gives her some of his leftover food. He learns that she lives in Kalu's domain because a man name Shull Cobart tried to force her to marry him using his magic black fiddle. John also encountered Shull Cobart, who said they would meet again. Like Cobart, John has a unique instrument: a silver-stringed guitar. Evadare says that Shull changed once he obtained the fiddle and it seemed to have the power to persuade people to do things through its music. They both marvel at the fact that Kalu has not killed Evadare. While she has not seen the monster, something has knocked on her door before. She says that sometimes she sings religious songs over Hosea's grave and things seem to get brighter.

Suddenly, Shull shows up at the door of Evadare's cabin. He states that he lured John there with his fiddle - which turns out to be so powerful because he traded his soul to the devil. His purpose was to bring someone good to Hosea's Hollow who the monster will target so that he can escape with Evadare.

John and Shull leave the cabin and John chooses the grave as the site where he would like to die. But unbeknownst to Shull, John starts quietly playing his own music, remembering how Evadare said good things happened when she sang hymns. John feels Kalu's presence. The creature emerges and kills Shull.

John returns to Evadare, who was left in the cabin, and explains that he figured out that Hosea was buried by Kalu. Hosea was friends with Kalu and likely taught him how to write the prayer inscribed on the grave. When John figured that out, he knew the creature would target Shull - who had traded his soul to the devil - rather than him. Evadare thanks him and begs to go with him. He flees from her, but she follows him relentlessly. Finally he agrees that they can live their lives together.