It is the fall of 1986, and usual autumn activities are ongoing in the small town of Wilson City, Texas. Nestled in the northeast corner of the state, deer hunting season is in full swing, and life in the town as well as the surrounding forest is moving along normally and slowly. Nothing is out of the ordinary for local Marshal Randy Burdette or local trapper and hunter Jimmy Ellard. High school students Billy Keller and Micki Richardson are becoming more serious in their months long romance. Local residents are getting ready for Thanksgiving, which is only a few weeks away. Things are routine. At first, livestock begins to disappear, and then people. Burdette and Ellard are somewhat reluctantly drawn into an investigation of whatever is happening by the county Sheriff Johnny Allen. They try to find a reasonable explanation for what appears to be a "werewolf" type killer. After all, it can't actually be that, despite where the crime scene evidence seems to be leading them. Werewolves don't really exist. Do they? The investigation deepens as more victims are snatched, and Burdette's involvement becomes personal. The investigators become hunters, and the hunters become the hunted.