The young couple Madeleine and Neil were persuaded by their acquaintance Mr. Beaumont to marry in his Haitian plantation. Beaumont's motive was purely selfish because he tried to persuade the beautiful young girl to run away with him. In order to seek help, Beaumont turned to the cunning Legendre, a man who managed the mill by controlling himself to become a zombie. After Beaumont used Legendre's zombie potion on Madeleine, he was dissatisfied with Madeleine's emotional existence and hoped that she could be replaced. Legendre had no intention of doing so. He also used the drug Beaumont to increase his zombie collection. At the same time, the sad "widower" Neil was convinced by a local priest that Madeleine might still be alive, so he looked for Madeleine.