Carl Kolchak is the "Night Stalker," a newspaper reporter who investigates strange deaths and unexplained phenomena. He asks the questions that no one else will about the cases the police can't - or won't - solve.
Eighteen months ago, a sudden attack on a deserted highway left Kolchak injured but alive. His wife wasn't so lucky. Since then, the reporter's determination to find out who - or what - killed her has led him to track other unexplained, violent deaths, all touched by the supernatural.
He's trying to piece together a puzzle that keeps changing shape. How are the crimes related? And why do some victims end up with a strange red birthmark on their wrists?
Kolchak is convinced that something terrible is happening, but the authorities don't seem to agree with him, especially the FBI who regard Kolchak as the number one suspect in his wife's death.
A murder shockingly similar to his wife's leads Kolchak to Los Angeles, where he's signed on as a writer with the L.A. Beacon newspaper. His former boss, Tony Vincenzo, grateful that Kolchak once made his career with one of his scoops, has given him a second chance as a crime reporter.
Kolchak's colleague, senior crime reporter Perri Reed, is just as eager to get a good story but she's skeptical of Kolchak's wild theories. Still, she's impressed by his uncanny ability to ferret out information that no one else dares to.
The young and ambitious photographer Jain McManus is a little more eager to go along with Kolchak. Together Reed and McManus will aid him as he follows the bizarre and the inexplicable stories that you won't find printed in any newspaper.