Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who using Poe own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders Directed by James Mc Teigue (V for Vendetta Ninja Assassin) the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex & the City 2) Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) & Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster) When a mother & daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer & social pariah Edgar Allan Poe But even as Poe is questioned by police another grisly murder occurs also inspired by a popular Poe story Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage Fields enlists the author help in stopping the attacks But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer next victim the stakes become even higher & the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it too late