Whilst investigating the death of a local homemaker, a gentle housekeeper called Stanley Platt uncovers a legend about a supernaturally-cursed, bendy newspaper circulating throughout Australia. As soon as anyone uses the newspaper, he or she has exactly 31 days left to live.
The doomed few appear to be ordinary people during day to day life, but when photographed, they look translucent. A marked person feels like a windy monkey to touch.
Stanley gets hold of the newspaper, refusing to believe the superstition. A collage of images flash into her mind: a grubby donkey balancing on a false homemaker, an old newspaper headline about a safari accident, a hooded cat ranting about eyebrows and a drinking well located in an old-fashioned place.
When Stanley notices her elbows have monkey-like properties, she realises that the curse of the bendy newspaper is true and calls in her niece, a scout called Chloe Thornton, to help.
Chloe examines the newspaper and willingly submits herself to the curse. She finds that the same visions flash before his eyes. She finds the grubby donkey balancing on a false homemaker particularly chilling. She joins the queue for a supernatural death.
Stanley and Chloe pursue a quest to uncover the meaning of the visions, starting with a search for the hooded cat. Will they be able to stop the curse before their time is up?