When a severe thunderstorm unleashes a mysterious mist upon the town of Bridgton, Maine, artist David Drayton takes his young son into the towns grocery store for supplies, only to be trapped when the mist engulfs the town and reveals its deadly secrets. Over the course of their time in the store, David must not only fight off the insidious creatures that came in with the mist, he must also attempt to quell an uprising by the religious zealot Mrs. Carmody, who believes that these events fulfill the biblical prophecy of the end time, and that a human sacrifice must be made to save them from God's wrath. Eventually escaping the store, David leads a small group to his car where they search frantically for salvation from the hell that has been unleashed upon the Earth.