Professor James Lowry doesn't believe in spirits, or witches, or demons. Not until one gentle spring evening when his hat disappears, along with four hours of his life. Now the quiet university town of Atworthy is changing; just slightly at first, then faster and more frighteningly each time he tries to remember. Lowry is pursued by a dark, secret evil that is turning his whole world against him while it whispers a warning from the shadows: "If you find your hat you'll find your four hours. If you find your four hours then you will die. . . ." - "A classic tale of creeping, surreal menace and horror . . . one of the really, really good ones." - Stephen King