Jim Derry is a hit man who is hired to kill a bookie named Eddie Breech. He begins to have second thoughts when he finds out that Eddie's wife Connie is confined to a wheelchair and is being cheated on by her husband. He talks to the Breechs and agrees to help the two fake Eddie's death so that Derry can get paid for the hit and the two can start over in Mexico. Derry goes to the morgue and aquires a body. He puts Eddies wallet and wedding ring on the corpse and starts it on fire after putting it in a car. Derry gets paid, but is arrested by the police. The police found the car and believe Eddie is dead. Derry tells the police that Eddie is in Mexico. The police then bring Connie into the room. She accuses Derry of shooting Eddie the night before. Derry has been set up. Connie killed her husband and set up Derry to take the fall.

Walter Mills is shocked when his fiancee dumps him. When she tells him he is too dull, Walter decides to change his image. He buys a wig and a beard and pretends to be Philip Marshall. As Philip he meets Noreen Kimberly. He promises to teach her how to sail. Noreen's boyfriend Curly, however, becomes angry and does some digging. He finds out that Philip is really Walter and he threatens to tell Noreen unless Walter hides some stolen jewels for him. Walter accepts and hides the jewels in sack inside his boat. Feeling guilty, Walter tells Noreen everything. She tells him that she really is in love with him. Noreen tells Walter to get rid of the jewels. As he heads to the boat the police arrive. They open the sack and find the remains of Noreen's husband. The police inform Walter that they were tipped off by Noreen and Curly. Walter realizes that it was all a set up as he is being taken away by the police.

A convicted bank robber John Perry is sentenced to 15 years hard labor in a state prison lumber camp. Determined to get out, James befriend an alcoholic inmate named Doc. Doc is in charge of the prison infirmary as well as burials for the dead. Doc makes an offer to John: if John will fincance an operation for Doc's granddaughter, he will get him out of prison. Doc's plan is to hide Perry inside the coffin of the next inmate who dies. The coffin will then be buried and dug up after the gravediggers and guards leave. Perry will then make his escape. All goes according to plan, until Doc fails to dig Perry up. Perry then learns why when the shroud slips from the face of the corpse sharing the coffin with him. Its Doc who died of a heart attack the night before.

Bessie Carnby and her daughter Camilla have been feuding with their neighbors Henry and Samantha Wilkins. In order to patch things up Bessie invites them over for dinner. Samantha refuses to go, but Henry goes and tries to act friendly. Later, he disappears and Bessie sees Samantha digging a hole in her barn. Bessie accuses Samantha of murder and calls the police. The police dig up the hole and find a badly decomposing body. Samantha is executed for the crime, but later Henry returns claiming he went out to sea. He has inherited his wife's money and marries Camilla. Bessie realizes she has been tricked and, feeling guilty over having sent an innocent Samantha to her death, decides to bring Henry to justice by poisoning herself and making it look like he is responsible.

Charlie Osgood has been robbing his partner Eddie Turtin for years. When Eddie finds out, he threatens to go to the police unless Charlie can give him back what he stole. Determined not to ply, Charlie and his girlfriend Danielle decide to fake Charlie's suicide and then leave the country. Charlie gives Eddie hints of suicide and then throws an explosives laden dummy over a bridge. After blowing up the dummy in the water, Eddie becomes convinced that Charlie is dead. Eddie gives the eulogy at Charlie's memorial service as Charlie heads to the office to pick up his stolen cash. He grabs the money and, afterwards, he and Danielle celebrate with drink. Charlie passes out after the drink and awakens to find Eddie and Danielle. Charlie realizes that he has been set up. Eddie planned to take the money and blame the theft on his dead partner. Eddie and Danielle get rid of Charlie for good by pushing him off a pier and blowing him up in the water.

Rusty Connors is a con man that has just been released from prison. He looks up the wife of his dead former cellmate, a robber and murderer, named Miles Krause. Before he was imprisoned, Krause stole a significant amount of money and killed his partner. The money and the body, however, never turned up. Connors talks to Krause's wife Helen and hopes that she knows where the money is. She, however, does not have a clue. Eventually, however, they are able to figure out that the money is stored in an abandoned boathouse that is now infested with rats. In the boathouse, they find the money and the dead and half-eaten body of Krause's partner. When Connors sees the money he is overcome with greed and tries to murder Helen. She manages to knock him out. When Connors awakens, he finds himself bound and gagged and being taunted by Helen. She gets up to leave with the money, but is tripped by Connors and is impaled on a hook. As she dies, the scent of her blood attracts the rats.

Juan Diaz is dying and penniless. His last wish is that he can provide financial security for his family. About a year later, a gravedigger named Alejandro exhumes Juan's corpse to make room in the cemetery. He has it mummified and sotries it in a crypt with a number of other mummies. Juan wife, Maria, discovers Alejandro plan and steals Juan's body. She hangs it in the house and tells tourists that it is a authentic Mexican mummy. Money from the tourists pays for food and clothing for Maria and her three children. Eventually, however, Maria is overcome by the ghoulishness of what she has done. She begs for forgiveness, but a gleam in the eye of the corpses body reveals that Juan approves of what she has done.

Newlyweds Dave and Bonnie Snowden visit the abandoned home of Bonnie's late father. In the home, Dave finds a locked door and comes to believe that there is something valuable inside. Later, Dave and Bonnie tell Bonnie's elderly mother Mrs. Daniels that they are married. Bonnie's mother is convinced that Dave is after her daughter inheritance. She tries to bribe Dave to annull the marriage. Dave refuses, but he is desperate for money. In an effort to convince Bonnie's mother of his good intentions. He convinces Bonnie to fake a suicide attempt by overdosing on sleeping pills. Dave hopes that Mrs. Daniels will see him caring for her and change her mind about him. Unfortunately, Bonnie is allergic to sleeping pills and accidently dies. After the funeral, Mrs. Daniels tells Dave that she has had a change of heart. She gives him the abandoned house. Dave heads to the home and again wonders what is behind the locked door. As he talks to himself,

Stella is married to a cowardly peach-farmer named Emory and takes in a passing hobo named Jesse. She hires him to help her husband harvest the peach crop. Unfortunately, Jesse's strange behavior and fascination with a knife he carries begins to frightens her. Emory, however, refuses to believe her. Stella tries to run away, but is caught by Jesse. He threatens to stab her, but she fights him off. She escapes in her husbands truck and heads home. There she awaken Emory and tells him about Jesse. Emory, however, confesses that he heard her screams, but was too afraid to do anything. Stella angrily stabs her husband and kills him. She then calls the police and blames the murder on the fleeing Jesse.

Over the protests of his wife Elsa, Keith Hollin rents a beach house. Elsa dislikes the house and is disturbed by her husband's digging of a gravelike hole in the basement. She is further disturbed when she finds out that Keith is seeing a local girl named Rachel. When Keith tells Elsa that he wants to buy the house, she decides to foil his plan by contacting the wife of the current owner to tell her to not to sell. Keith, however, grows angry and kills Elsa. He buries her body in the basement, but is surprised when the police arrive. The police carry shovels and want to dig up the basement. The police tell Keith that Elsa discovered the wife of the house's owner was missing. She tipped off the police and they began an investigation. They called the house's owner in for questioning and he confessed to murdering his wife. He told them that he buried his wife in the basement of the beach house. The police are at the beach house to dig up the basement so they can find the body.

Dr. Don Reed falls in love with a nightclub singer named Niki Carroll despite the warnings of his seriously ill father and her ex-boyfriend who both tell him she is not good for him. Niki accepts his marriage proposal, but Don's father dies when he hears the news. The newlyweds take an exotic honeymoon cruise with the inheritance money. During the cruise, Don becomes enraged when he sees Niki kissing another man and he accidently pushes him overboard. Niki convinces Don to keep his mouth shut and since no one saw the incident he gets away with murder. Niki eventually grows tired of him. She tells him that she is going to leave him. She also wants all his money or else she will tell the police about the murder. Niki also dumps her band leader boyfriend, but instead of accepting this he strangles her. The police call Don to the scene. He examines his wife's body in the bedroom and discovers that she is still alive.

Howard Clements is wrongfully accused of assaulting a woman named Isabel Smith. He is convicted of the crime and is sent to prison for two years. When he gets out of prison he steals $13,000 which is the exact amount he would have earned if he had not been in prison. He then opens a record store in his hometown. He meets Isabel a few times and manages to get a date with her. Eventually the two become engaged. On their honeymoon, Howard sabotages the fuel line of the boat they rented and convinces Isabel to take a ride on it solo. Later, Howard gets hiw revenge when he hears an explosion in the distance. As he returns home, he is stopped by the police who know about his theft and also suspect him of murder.

Ned Murray is a lawyer who gets Lew Rydell off on a murder charge, but later learns that he is guilty. Knowing that Lew cannot be tried twice for the same crime, Ned seeks out other ways to bring the man to justice. He talks to a gangster Tony Hardeman who misinterprets Ned's concern and decides to have Lew killed. Ned suspects that a murder is about to take place and tries to save Lew. He arrives at Lew's house too late and discovers that Lew is still alive. He managed to kill Tony before he could kill him. Ned realizes that he can now have Lew sent to prison since he can now be tried for another murder. Guilt overwhealms him, however, and Ned decides to defend Lew in court once again.

Over the protests of his wife Eve, Howard Raydon fires Addie the family maid when her son breaks a valuable antique. Unwilling to leave, she poisons Howard's milk and kills him. An autopsy reveals the poison, but Eve is the chief suspect after she is fingered by Howard's mother. Believing that Eve's innocence will come out in trial, Addie remains silent about any wrong doing. Unfortunately, the prosecution reveals that Addie's 'son' is really Eve's son from a previous marriage. They claim that Eve killed her husband to prevent being seperated from the boy. As things begin to look worse for Eve, Addie confesses her guilt in a note and attempts suicide. Her suicide attempt is stopped in time and she is forced to stand trial.

Jim Mallory is a forest ranger who along with his wife Linda, have adopted a girl named Anne. The couple have never told Anne that her parents died in a bizarre murder-suicide for fear that the news might disturb her. A blackmailer contacts Jim and demands money. He says that he will tell Anne the secret of her past if Jim doesn't pay up. Jim agrees to pay, but informs the police. The blackmailers figure out that something is up and change the site of the money drop. Later the blackmailers get into an argument and one of them is killed. When the police find the body, they suspect Jim Mallory. Jim manages to catch the blackmailer to clear his name, but he doesn't get to him in time to stop her from telling Anne the secret about her parents. Anne is troubled by the news, but manages to take it in stride. She tells the Mallorys that she loves them and has always considered them her real parents.

Nell Snyder has been taking care of her orphaned neice and has been growing more and more concerned over her neice's behavior. Her neice continually blames all the trouble she causes on an imaginary friend named Mr. Peppercorn. When the girl's grandfather Captain King Snyder gives her a Creole voodoo doll, Nell grows more and more worried. Her nieces says the doll came from Mr. Peppercorn. She names it Numa and treats as if it were a real person. Eventually, Nell becomes convinced that the doll is real and that it is trying to take her neice's soul. She follows her neice and Numa into the forest. There she frightens her away, not realizing that the switch has already occurred. She later sees the doll and discovers that it bears her neice's face.

At a college campus, two young girls are killed while strolling through a nearby forest. Suspicion falls on a chemistry professor and an intense and brooding music professor named Edwin Volck. Harold, a psychology professor, convinces his fiancee Daphne to act as bait to help trap the killer. The trap succeeds and Volck is revealed as the killer. Harold, however, becomes worried. He believes that the killers bloodlust may have inspired other less obvious psychos on campus. Daphne realizes that Harold has been speculating about himself when he suddenly attacks her. She is rescued by the chemistry professor. The chemistry professor had been watching Harold's behavior since the beginning believing that he was a possible psychopath.

Jay Shaw is a young writer interested in writing a book on juvenile delinquency. He changes his identity and infiltrates a particularly violent gang named "The Barons". He manages to get the trust of Tiger the leader of the gang but trouble arises, when Filene, Tiger's girl friend, falls in love with him. Filene's love, however, is not the only source of tension. Other gang members grow jealous of Jay's growing power within the gang. When gang members break into his room and find his notes, they tell Tiger that Jay's an undercover cop. Jay is sentenced to death by Tiger and the gang. He manages to get away, but in the process Filene is killed. The murder is witnessed and Tiger and the rest of the gang are hauled off to jail.

George Maxwell is a former playboy who has just married his boss's daughter Mavis. George, however, must meet an ex-girlfriend to give her money. He arrives in a cab only to find his ex-girlfriend dead. He heads back home, but the next day the cabbie who drove him to the murder scene threatens him with blackmail. George tells his Mavis and she kills the cab driver and buries his body in the rose garden. Mavis then tells George that she killed his ex-girlfriend because she was alos blackmailing him. George is impressed and, later, when George's secretary threatens blackmail because she he knows about the cab driver, George calls Mavis and tells her that more rose bushes are on the way.

Duke Marsden is about to lose his wife because of his gambling habits. She gives him an ultimatum: either give up poker or she leaves. He decides to give up poker. Later, Duke's younger brother Chuck arrives looking for a high-stakes game of poker. Duke arranges to have brother play a couple of his old poker buddies who would love to fleece a newcomer. Duke's plan goes awry when Chuck starts to clean house. After the losers call Duke to complain, Duke realizes that he must deal with the situation. He goes to the game and uses a marked deck to clean out Chuck. Chuck leaves, bitter and broke. Duke's old gambling buddies eye him suspiciously even after he offers them their lost money. They believe that Duke, who just cheated his own brother, had probably cheated them in the past as well. Duke arrives home mortally wounded. He apologizes to his wife and dies in her arms.

When his teenage son Tommy is found murdered in the town of Northfield, John Cooley sets out to avenge the boys death. John is a religious fanatic who believes he is on a mission from God. When he finds a piece of car headlight at the murder scene, he seeks out and kills the car's original owner Frency La Font and an elderly librarian who had some connection to the car. With all the murders, the residents of Northfield are unstandably shaken. They demand that Sheriff Will Pearce solve the case. Unfortunately, Pearce's girlfriend Susan Marsh falls under Cooley's suspicions since she bought the car from La Font. His attempt to kill her, however, is foiled at the last second by the timely arrival of Sheriff Pearce. Pearce explains that La Font murdered Tommy and confessed to it in his last will and testament.

Johnny Kendall is a trigger-happy cop who is fired from the police and is forced to take a job checking vacant summer homes during the off-season. His girlfriend Sandy gets a job as a waitress to try to help them make ends meet. At work, Johnny discovers that the previous deputy was fired from the job for having an affair with an unidentified woman in one of the vacant summer homes. Later, when Johnny sees the ex-deputy hanging around Sandy he becomes jealous and paranoid. One night, when he believes the two are together, he takes his gun and begins to look for them. He heads for the empty summer houses and finds one broken into. Inside he hears the former deputy and a woman. He shoots them both in the dark and kills them. He turns on the lights and discovers that the woman was not Sandy, but the sheriff's wife.

Glendon Baker is an invalid who is being taken care of by a nurse named Stella Crosson. Stella is pleased when another nurse named Betty Ames arrives to assist her in the work. The only other people in the house are a house keeper named Maude and her handyman husband Sam. Stella becomes worried when she hears that a nurse killer is in the area. She grows more uneasy when the lights go out. When a patient's oxygen begins to run low, Stella sends the handyman out to get some. Growing paranoid, Stella locks all the windows in the house but neglects to lock the one in the basement. Later, Stella sees a man outside and panics when there is knocking at the door. She fails to notice that it is the handyman trying to get back in. She heads for the phone, but stops and heads into the lounge to help Nurse Ames who has been apparently attacked. Once in the lounge, however, Nurse Ames attacks her.