小说As a child, Luther Watts was deeply affected by seeing a circus geek (someone who bites the heads off live chickens in a circus sideshow). Finally paroled after serving 20 years in prison, he terrorizes the residents of his hometown by making chicken noises, crowing like a rooster and attacking people. He winds up at a farm run by a woman and her daughter, where he takes them captive and then starts killing off her neighbors. The mother realizes she and her daughter must escape before he kills them, too.