In New York, at the genesis of the 20th century, Sue Allen returns to her boarding house after a failed attempt to get a job. Clad in a blue-gray dress and black high-heeled boots, the pretty brunette has a confrontation with Mrs. Flanagan, the landlady.
Sue has been late with the rent one too many times, and though Mrs. Flanagan sympathizes with Sue's plight, she can't let the pretty girl stay in her place rent-free. So, being quite firm, the landlady issues an ultimatum to Sue: get the money any way you can, or else you can't stay. The pretty brunette then goes upstairs to see her roommate Cathy about getting the money since it's her only hope.
However, Sue finds the apartment dark and quiet, which is odd since Mrs. Flanagan informed her that her roommate had arrived not long before she did. Entering her roommate's bedroom, Sue discovers why the place is as dead as a tomb. Cathy is laid out on her bed, limp and cold like a wet noodle. Finding this corpse is not as horrifying to the pretty girl as the reason why. Sensing she wasn't alone, Sue spins around to face a hideously disfigured man in a dark cloak and hat emerging from the shadows. Letting out a blood-curdling scream, the pretty girl flees into this murder room by leaping out the conveniently open rear window.
Reaching the back alley, the girl quickly realizes that the murderer is after her. Fleeing into the midnight streets, the girl attempts to lose her pursuer in the darkness. Simultaneously, those screams draw everyone in the rooming house to the girl's apartment. After this, the landlady's husband, Mr. Flanagan, immediately contacts the police.
In the meantime, Sue doubles back to the rooming house after thinking she's given the killer the slip. Unfortunately, the killer figured she might try such a stunt and was waiting for her. With this avenue to safety block, the pretty girl turns tail and runs with the killer hot on her tail. With the misty streets devoid of people, she tries to hail a passing taxi but fails. But the girl is fast on her feet, and the killer quickly loses sight of her. Undeterred, the killer continues his pursuit.
Despite the loud click-clack of her high heel boots, Sue notices footsteps coming up behind her. Pausing at the edge of an alleyway, the pretty girl looks over her shoulder. And while the mist obscured her sight, Sue clearly heard The killer's footsteps, and they were coming up fast.
Dashing through the alleyway, the pretty girl emerged on the next street over, but she didn't stay there. Seeing another alleyway up ahead, Sue immediately ducks inside.
Stopping to catch her breath, the girl quickly notices that, beyond her ragged breathing, it has become completely silent. The killer also becomes aware of this silence as he reaches the first alleyway that the girl fled into. Filled with undiluted fear, the girl knew the killer was somewhere nearby.
Slowly lurking down the alleyway, the murderer knew his quarry was nearby, hiding in the dark like a scared little rabbit.
Looking down at her boots and back the way she came, Sue figured out why she couldn't ditch this maniac. The loud clopping of her boots was like a proverbial trail of breadcrumbs, letting the killer know where she was no matter how fast she ran.
Quickly removing those black boots, Sue huddled in that alleyway as she heard the slow shuffling of footsteps in the street beyond. And though she couldn't see the source of those footsteps, she presumed it must be the killer.
Looking up and down the empty street, the killer was uncertain where his prey went. He then shuffles off into the darkness. Although it was nighttime, Sue realized that she was near the home of her boyfriend, Scott. Fleeing the alleyway, the pretty girl ran as fast as she could in her stocking feet straight to Scott's front door. But being this late in the evening, Sue figured there was no guarantee that he would be awake. So, using her boots as a door knocker, Sue causes a real ruckus as she repeatedly hammers the door. Unfortunately, the killer was nearby. And hearing this racket, he immediately zeroed in on the girl. But just as the killer emerges from the darkness, Sue is saved when Scott's mother opens the door, letting her inside.
As Sue explains to her boyfriend the terror she's been through, the killer fades into the night. And as the pretty girl found a sympathetic shoulder to cry on, she had no clue what this fiend intended. Not only did this maniac wanted to waste Sue and Cathy, but he planned to put them on permanent display in his macabre museum of wax.