For fifteen-year-old David Collie, the woods of The Shadows represent tragedy. Four years ago, on a fishing trip, David's father and brother drowned in the river just beyond these ominous trees, and it was David who discovered his brother's body in a drainage pipe. Now in present day 1986, David is an outcast under constant torment from a bully named Brock. When an unseen person hits Brock with a rock, saving David, a series of events is set into motion that leads David to befriend some enigmatic people, including a homeless man living in The Shadows. But his problems with Brock soon intensify, and his mother, desperate to stop the constant violence, meets with the school principal. He suggests scheduling sessions with the guidance counselor, only his motives are more focused on using David for a radical psychoanalysis experiment. Under immense stress, David concocts an intricate plan with the help of his mysterious friends. But just as his bullies are ensnared in his traps deep in The Shadows, something unforeseen occurs--something fatal.