An artist, Robert Pickman, becomes obsessed by visions of unworldly horror, revealed to him through an ancient artifact discovered in an abandoned church.

Who is Goodie Hines? Why did he gouge out the eyes of his victims? Why did they beg him to do it? What could possibly have inspired such horrific imagery in his drawings and paintings that they've been banned--only to be duplicated to seemingly impossible detail by mild-mannered recluse, Robert Pickman, who claims never to have met Goodie nor seen his work, but refuses to reveal his sources? Dare we delve the mind of one dissolving into madness, to uncover his muse?—Ellen Klowden