Widowed Ben Holden, his young daughter K.T., and his girlfriend Nicky, are on a road trip through the California desert. They had stopped for K.T. to get a snow cone and play at a playground. On the road again, at a sharp corner along the highway, they spot a smoldering demolished car along with what appears to be human remains. Ben quickly drives to the nearest town of Hillsboro to report the incident, but upon arriving, is treated as a criminal offender by the town sheriff, Pete. He is placed up against his car while Pete holds a gun on him. The town residents hide inside their homes, observing the goings as they peer from behind curtains. Pete eventually releases Ben, and the family flees. Unbeknownst to Ben, the town is on edge because 26 of its residents have met violent deaths in the past three days, and numerous children have disappeared. Pete, his deputy Tobey, and the town physician, Dr. Duncan, travel to the wreckage along the highway. They find that the two adult drivers were killed, and that their young son, Timmy -also a resident of Hillsboro - is missing. Ben, fleeing Hillsboro, is startled by a young girl who appears in the road. He swerves to avoid her, and crashes his car. With nowhere to go, he, Nicky, and K.T. head back into Hillsboro on foot. That night, resident Ed Meadows and his wife, Mildred, are inexplicably killed in their home after one of their daughter's dolls apparently comes to life. Their daughter disappears. Meanwhile, at the abandoned Barry house overlooking the town, Dr. Duncan gathers in a secret room with the elderly residents of the town. The elders are in fact a coven of witches who worship Satan, and Dr. Duncan is their leader. During their ceremony, numerous children stand entranced on pedestals, vessels into which the witches plan to transfer their souls. Shortly after, Ed's son Stuart, and daughter, Phyllis, join a group of children outside their home, who escort them to the Barry house. Ben, Nicky, and K. T. reach the Meadows home, and find Ed and Mildred's corpses. In town, Ben and his family are welcomed to spend the night at Pete's home, where Dr. Duncan makes an unannounced visit. Jack, the town's Catholic priest, suspects an evil influence in the town, and stays up late into the night researching devil worship. In his studies, he notices a preponderance of children figuring in the literature. Back at Pete's house, Nicky suffers a nightmare. In the morning, Ben decides they should leave. Peter allows them to borrow his car, but they get a flat tire on the edge of town. Upon exiting the car, Ben and Nicky realize that K. T. has vanished from the backseat. K. T. joins the town's children at the Barry house, where they play with toys and other party favors in a room decorated with murals of dead children and cloaked figures. A birthday cake for K.T. is brought with black icing. Ben and Nicky return to town to report K.T. missing, and are met by Father Jack, who tells them she has been kidnapped by witches. He believes they will use her and the other missing children in a Satanic ritual. Meanwhile, Mike, another local resident, finds his son Joey wandering out of their home in a trance. He runs after him into the woods, where he is decapitated by an armored figure riding a horse. Father Jack witnesses the incident, and flees in terror to report it to Pete, Ben, and Tobey. The coven needs one more girl to complete their set of 13 of matching genders. K.T. provides it, which is why they let Ben's car into town. Having acquired one child for each member of the coven, Dr. Duncan begins the ritual at the Barry house, entreating Satan to help transfer their souls into the bodies of the young. Ben, Pete, Tobey, and Father Jack unite and rush to the Barry house. Outside, Pete finds a toy horseman lying on the ground, with a blood-covered lance. This terrifies Father Jack, who realizes that the coven has been causing the children's toys to manifest as instruments to kill their parents. The men quickly break into the house, but find they have arrived too late-the witches have all perished, and their souls transferred into the children. When Ben, Pete, and Tobey break down the door to the ceremonial room, they find K. T. and the other children gathered around a cobweb-covered table, along with dolls resembling some of the coven members. The children stare at the men in silence.
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