Before her death, Selwyn and her accomplice, Jethrow Keane, sold their souls to Lucifer for eternal life and revenge on Whitewood in return for providing the Devil with two yearly virgin human sacrifices on the Hour of Thirteen during Candlemas Eve and the Witches' Sabbath.

Nan settles in The Raven's Inn, a hotel owned by eccentric Mrs. Newless, becoming acquainted with the only normal-seeming local resident Patricia Russell, who loans her a book on witchcraft.

Two weeks later, Nan's concerned fiancé, Bill Maitland, and her brother, Richard, learn The Raven's Inn does not exist in any phone directory.

Her pact with the Devil has been undone by the intervention, and Richard and Patricia find her charred corpse in the hotel which was earlier revealed to have been built on the site of her burning.

[2] Some dialogue was removed from the American version of the film,[citation needed] including the following lines in the opening sequence which clarify the plot.

They are retained in the original British version, which has been shown on Turner Classic Movies: The City of the Dead was released in September 1960 in the United Kingdom.

[citation needed] Heavy metal band Iron Maiden used scenes from the film in the music video for their 1990 song "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter".