Pilgrim Poor Parson tells the tale of Brothers Philip and Edmund, who are appointed priests of the small Kentish village of Scawsby, where they quickly decide to build a new church and graveyard for the town. When the two relocate the graves to the new site, some coffins are uncovered empty and others with the remains of townsfolk buried alive. Philip investigates, murders and disappearances occur, and soon both he and his brother are led into a final, shattering climax of evil and peril.