 Ryan Tripp lived by the credo "nothing more can go wrong." Two years after losing his wife during childbirth, Tripp woke up in a hospital bed to find that he had survived the house fire that claimed the lives of his three young boys. Tripp trudges through his days teaching English at a New England prep school, his alma mater, never bothering to look for closure or find solace. To him, "nothing more can go wrong" seems like the best way to get through the day. That was until he met Anna Dias. Hundreds of miles away in the small town of Margate, Anna is enduring struggles of her own. Coping with her inability to get pregnant and its affects on the disintegrating relationship with her boyfriend James, she is actively searching for the very things in life that Ryan Tripp has lost. It is Anna who is haunted by the spirits of three young boys. Looking for an explanation, Anna falls into the realm of Cathedral Pines, a sacred monument hidden in the Pine Barrens just outside of Margate. With the help of Jon Carter, a mysterious drifter who lives on the fringes of the Pine Barrens, Anna begins to unravel the secrets of a 400 year old curse. The young boys  refusal to cross over to the spirit world has closed the passage and they are now being manipulated by an ancient evil. As Anna continues to pursue answers, she comes across the story of Ryan Tripp. Believing the boys are his, she tracks him down and urges him to come to the Pines. Ryan ignores her pleas and the souls of the departed begin to spill out of the Pines and into the town of Margate. It is a combination of frustration and desperation that finally drives Tripp to Cathedral Pines where he engages in an epic battle with an unholy spirit for the souls of his children.