Publisher's Synopsis
The story is told by Albert N . Wilmarth, an instructor of literature at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts . When local newspapers report strange things seen floating in rivers during a historic Vermont flood, Wilmarth becomes embroiled in a controversy regarding the reality and significance of the sightings . He sides with the skeptics, blaming old legends about monsters living in uninhabited hills that abduct people venturing too close to their territory .