Thinking that he had glimpsed the face of Evil as a witness to atrocities committed on the innocent during WWII, Lankester Merrin lost his faith in his fellow man and the Almighty. He renounced his vocation, and is now an archaeologist in Africa. A collector of rare comes to him with an odd request. An old Christian Byzantine church has been unearthed in Kenya, surprisingly intact, as if it were buried right after its completion. Merrin is asked to find an ancient relic hidden within the church before a British expedition can. Interested, Merrin agrees to take the job. Beneath the church, something much older and malevolent sleeps, waiting to be awoken. The blood of innocents flows freely, but the horror has only just begun. In the place where Evil was born, Merrin will finally see its true face.