A Seattle history professor, drawn back to his estranged family on the Oregon coast to execute his late mother's estate, is reacquainted with his best friend from childhood, with whom he has a long-awaited tryst. Caught in an accelerating series of events, he discovers aspects of his father's New Age cult which take on a dangerous and apocalyptic significance.

Zoe, age 10, is obsessed with making horror films. A deadline for a big horror contest is coming up, and Zoe is determined to win. But when her father, concerned about her increasingly gory activities, orders her to stop making horror films and shoot her sister's wedding week instead, Zoe has no other choice... To win the contest of her dreams, she will have to turn her sister's wedding into a horror film.