In 1943 Max Carver's father - a watchmaker and inventor - decides to move his family to a small town on the Atlantic coast. But as soon as they arrive, strange things begin to happen. Max discovers an overgrown garden surrounded by a metal fence topped with a six-pointed star. When he goes to investigate, Max finds statues like a circus troupe fill the garden. In the centre is a clown set in another six-pointed star. Max has the curious sensation that the statue is beckoning to him.

The family grows increasingly uneasy when they discover a box of old films, his sister Alicia has unsettling dreams, while little Irina hears voices whispering to her from an old wardrobe. But Max spends most of his time with his new friend Roland, who takes him diving to the wreck of a boat that sank close to the coast in a terrible storm. Everyone on board perished except for one man - an engineer who built the lighthouse at the end of the beach. During the dive, Max sees something that leaves him cold - on the mast floats a tattered flag and on it is the symbol of the circle and six-pointed star. As they learn more about the wreck, the chilling story of a legendary figure called the Prince of Mist begins to emerge...