H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in The Witch-House - Plot

Plot

University student Walter Gilman moves to a very cheap room in an old boarding house. He hears shrill screaming and rushes to help his neighbor, Frances, to find that she was being chased by a large rat. He scares the rat back into its hole and immediately seeks help from the manager. The manager refuses to help and one of the tenants, Masurewicz, asks Walter if the large rat had a human face. He becomes increasingly close with Frances the following week and even lends her money to keep her in the boarding house.

While studying for his thesis, Walter listens to noises in the first floor, and finds the tenant Masurewicz praying and hitting his head on a chair. The old man advises Walter about a rat with a man's face and a witch that would be after him. He warns Walter that the house is evil, relating to him that he, like Walter, moved in at a young age in the same room that Walter is currently renting. He stays in the house only to pray to stop her. Masurewicz offers a crucifix for his protection, but Walter ignores the advice, brushing his vision of the rat off as a dream.

Frances gets a job interview and asks Walter to watch her son, Danny. After she leaves, Danny begins to cry if he isn't in Walters hands. Walter notices that Danny is wearing a large crucifix. Walter falls asleep and a cloaked witch appears as a nude Frances, but causes Danny to cry. Walter embraces her and she begins to claw the skin off of his back. He becomes horrified when she transforms into an old witch, making him wake up. Walter wakes up outside of Frances' room. He rushes back to the room when he hears Danny fiercely crying. Frances had just got back from her interview and quickly unlocks her room letting both her and Walter back in.

He goes back to his room and reveals to the audience that the witch had really carved a pentagram into his back. He lays flour on his floors to make sure he isn't sleep walking. A scratch in the flour leads under his bed. He peers down underneath and is snatched by a mysterious hand. He finds himself in a dark corridor, with the rat on his shoulder in front of some mysterious log. The rat urges him to "sign" and bites his wrist.

Walter wakes up in front of a satanic book, and he sees the witch and the rat. He sees that there is a ritual involving the sacrifice of a baby, Danny. The witch wants to use Walter to get and sacrifice Danny. Walter tries to warn Frances, but she shuns him and tells him that he must seek psychological help.

Masurewicz comes to the aid of Walter, telling him that the witch has come and that his soul is in peril. He realizes that the witch has found way to slip through the dimensions. Masurewicz reveals that he had killed children because of her and that he had been marked. Though he tried to turn himself in, no one would believe him. Masurewicz hands the cross over to Walter and leaves.

Walter breaks through the wall in his room where the witch comes through. He finds the skeletons of previous sacrifices. The rats' voices can be heard repeating "She's coming for you." Walter crawls into the attic and finds the sacrifice chamber with Danny caged up. The cloaked witch places a silver knife into Walter's hand, and, as a background chant begins, the witch commands Walter to kill the child. Walter tries to resist and causes a drop of blood to fall from Danny's neck. He redirects the knife to the witch. She steals the knife and Walter gouges her eyes out with his own hands. She cuts him, but he strangles her with the crucifix Masurewicz gave him. He takes Danny, busts through another wall, landing in Frances' room, and places Danny back in the crib. Danny starts crying again and Walter notices that the rat is chewing through Danny's neck. Frances is locked out and sees purple lights coming from under the door. Masurewicz is in his room, praying and beating his head so hard that he is bleeding. Frances, the manager, and the police finally open the door to find Walter covered in blood with Danny's corpse laying in his lap.

Walter is taken to a Psych ward and is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The police recover the infant remains, some dating over 300 years ago, the knife, and mysterious DNA from Danny's animal bites. Purple lights appear in Walter's room and a nurse comes to his aid. He is shaking furiously. When the nurse lifts his shirt, there are huge wounds and a rat jumps out from his stomach. Masurewicz hangs himself and the episode ends with a sign saying "Room for Rent."