The story follows a successful horror writer named Richard Kinnell as he drives back to his home in Maine. Along the way, he comes across a yard sale, where he notices and is captivated by a bizarre painting of a sinister-looking man driving his car somewhere. The painting, which is apparently titled "The Road Virus Heads North," was painted by a tortured genius who had burned all his other paintings prior to killing himself, leaving a cryptic note that he couldn't stand what was happening to him. Kinnell, a collector of such oddities, takes no hesitation in buying the painting from the woman running the sale.
