- Seeking refuge from a storm, a traveler comes upon a bizarre abbey of monks, who have imprisoned a man who begs for his help. When he confronts the head monk, he is told that the man is the Devil, and he must decide whom to believe.
- David Ellington recounts a story, one that began just after the end of World War I. He was hiking in Europe when he sought refuge in an abbey during a violent rain storm. The residence is isolated and its head, Brother Jerome, tells him he cannot stay. Ellington is ill however and during his short stay meets someone who is being kept prisoner and howls constantly through the night. Ellington believes the Howling Man is being kept there for no good reason but Brother Jerome tells him of the man's true nature. The decision Ellington makes will haunt him for the rest of his life.—garykmcd
- Seeking refuge from a storm, traveler David Ellington comes upon a bizarre hermitage of monks, who have imprisoned a man who begs for his help. When David confronts the head monk Brother Jerome, he is told that the man is the devil, and David must decide who to believe.—D.Greenberg
- A man named Ellington (H.M. Wynant), a "seeker of truth," passionately states that he has an important story to tell that must be believed, despite its outlandishness. In his tale, he is lost in a storm in Europe some time after WWI. He comes to a foreboding castle and knocks, and is reluctantly admitted by a monk. He hears a ghastly howling sound, but the monk says that it is merely the wind before showing him in to see Brother Jerome (John Carradine), the head of the establishment. Ellington requests only shelter and a bit of food, but the monk firmly rebuffs him and tells him he must leave at once. He turns to go, but soon collapses from exhaustion. When he wakes, he hears the strange howling again, and when he searches for the source he comes across a man (Robin Hughes) locked in a cellar who begs him for help. He explains that the monks are all "mad" and that Jerome has a grudge against him over a woman. He states that the monks are all "outcasts and misfits," and while he does not believe them evil, he is sure they are insane and pleads with Ellington to free him. At that moment, however, they are interrupted by Jerome, who drags Ellington away and again demands that he leave. Ellington stands his ground, however, and asks about the caged man and why he is locked up. Jerome tries to tell him that he imagined it and there is no such man, but when Ellington threatens to go to the police, Jerome relents and explains the truth.
He claims that the man in the cellar is in fact the devil, and that before he, Jerome, became a monk, he traveled the world extensively and encountered the devil in many forms and in many lands. Finally, he showed up in the small village near the castle after the war and began to corrupt it with evil, and Jerome finally managed to capture him and imprisoned him with the "staff of truth." Ellington states that he believes the monk's story, but then returns to the cell, and the man tells him that Jerome is a liar. Permitted to stay the night, Ellington later sneaks past his sleeping guard and frees the man in the cell by removing the staff. Once out, the man immediately strikes Ellington to the ground with a wave of his hand and strides off, and his appearance rapidly changes to reveal that he is in fact the devil. He smirks at a stunned Ellington and vanishes in a cloud of smoke. The monks run to Ellington's side, and Jerome says that he understands why he freed him, as man is weak and the devil is cunning.
Returning to the present, an older Ellington explains that ever since that night, he has spent his days tracking down the devil and trying to recapture him, which he has finally done. He tells the housekeeper, who has been listening to the story, to keep him imprisoned at all costs, and leaves the house on a mission. The housekeeper, however, seems to be unable to contain her curiosity, and lifts the staff from the door....
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