Based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Peter Straub, it follows a group of elderly businessmen in New England who gather to recount their involvement in a woman's death decades prior when one of them suspects her ghost has been haunting him.

The film was shot in Woodstock, Vermont; Saratoga Springs, New York; and at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.

During the frigid winter of 1979, in the small New England town of Milburn, four elderly friends—businessman Ricky Hawthorne, lawyer Sears James, physician John Jaffrey, and Mayor Edward Charles Wanderley—form the Chowder Society, an informal men's club who get together each week to share tales of horror.

Two escaped patients from a mental asylum, Gregory and Fenny Bate, have taken up residence in the old Eva Galli house, now in ruins.

Doubting his father committed suicide, Don approaches the remaining three friends and tells them a "ghost" story to gain membership into the Chowder Society.

In a flashback, Don tells the story of how he, a college professor in Florida, began an affair with a mysterious secretary named Alma, soon becoming engaged.

Sears and Ricky finally explain to Don that, in the spring of 1929, the four friends became smitten with a flirtatious young woman named Eva Galli.

Outside her house, the other three friends serenaded Eva in hopes of catching a glimpse of her when Edward came to the window instead, giving the impression that he'd slept with her.

Eva began to tell them the truth about her dalliance with Edward when he leapt to silence her, causing her to smash her head on a stone mantelpiece.

[3] Upon reading Straub's novel and Lawrence D. Cohen's screenplay, Irvin envisioned the narrative as being about hypocrisy and principally "men's fear of women, and at some point, hatred.

[11] Smith also created a "faceless" dummy with a gaping mouth and no eyes that was to be used as an apparition of Eva, but it ultimately was not included in the final film.

[13] In The New York Times, Vincent Canby had the opposite view, also praising the performances but feeling that the movie oversimplified Straub's story and themes.

Variety agreed with Canby that the filmmakers failed to translate Straub's novel to screen, stating that there were "isolated and excellent moments separated by artful but ordinary sketches.

"[17] TV Guide awarded the film two out of four stars, criticizing Cohen's screenplay, but adding: "Director John Irvin does manage to evoke some mood and atmosphere from the snowy New England setting, and the performances from the four veteran lead players are enjoyable.

[21] This release featured new bonus material, including an audio commentary with director John Irvin, as well as interviews with Peter Straub, Alice Krige, Lawrence D. Cohen, Burt Weissbourd, and Bill Taylor.