1865. Defrauded spiritual medium Alicia Wilkinson is brought to The Ashcroft Hospital at the behest of Dr. John James Templeton. He offers Alicia a second chance to revive her once-thriving career: perform a séance amongst the patients in order to draw out their mental maladies. Alicia performs her first series of séances with the patients — including traumatized soldiers returning from the Civil War and women whose sanity has slipped through their fingers — only to realize their sessions might work all too well. What no one knows is Alicia is a fake. A liar. A cheat… So why are the patients suddenly acting possessed?