A curse is spreading across the Old West, one that makes its victims hunger for human flesh while their own rots from their bones. When Elmer Winslow, a U.S. Army deserter, and an effeminate cowboy named Luke Bed get into a bar fight, they are soon after tossed into a jail cell by the town's corrupt Sheriff Claypool, who takes the liberty of claiming all their personal possessions for himself. Their cell is next to that of Ben Goodman, a sickly looking man who is set to hang the following day for the ghastly crimes of murdering his wife and daughter, devouring parts of their brains in the process. When Elmer and Luke make their escape, relieving the sheriff of their money and much of his own his entire savings before fleeing town, both Claypool and his dim-witted lackey, Cletus, are bitten