Two years ago, a series of horrific murders shocked the city of Bristol. These killings were so elaborate in their planning, and so outrageous in their execution, that they made national headlines for weeks. Now the journalists who wrote the stories behind those headlines are beginning to die, in ways even more gruesome, even more flamboyant, and even more unbelievable than the murders they themselves wrote about at such length in the national dailies all those months ago. Dr. Edward Valentine, brilliant surgeon and the maniac responsible for the Nine Deaths, has not been seen since he escaped the police following a final confrontation. Has he returned? Is he now intent on punishing the British tabloid press that he feels has misrepresented him? Has he chosen as the most appropriate method of punishment that most British of institutions, the Hammer Horror film? And how many times will the Hammer of Dr. Valentine strike before he can be stopped? Of course, there's only one way to find out...