The legend: Since the 1700´s, in the vast forest of the Southern New Jersey Pine Barrens, locals have reported stories of savage and unsolved murders. They say this is the work of the devil... The jersey Devil. One story tells the tale of a native Indian shaman who mastered the forbidden Black Arts of "Shape Shifting". The Indian shaman transforming his thirteenth child into a half-animal, half-human beast, in order to ward off the incursions of the British army during the American Revolution. The monster has roamed the woods ever since...

...Now: It is the Halloween season and once again someone or something is terrorizing the Pine Barrens. When a mutilated body is discovered by a local park ranger, Atorney General Murphy assigns Special Agent Tatum to investigate. Their search brings them to the mysterious Mr. Shroud. Does his Victorian estate hold the key to the mystery of the Devil? Or do the answers lie with ex-cop Riley? What horror did he see twenty years earlier that have left him near madness? Enter a world where suspense and mystery give way to a climax of terror. Enter the dark woods of the 13th Child.