Arthur Penhaligon is a normal teenage boy, trying to fit in at school. But when he suffers a serious asthma attack, his life is unexpectedly saved by two strange characters who appear out of nowhere - and a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock. Arthur's life may have been saved, but his world is in danger. An incurable epidemic is spreading throughout the country, and his foster mother, a scientist, is desperately trying to help find the cure. And it is not long before Arthur realises that a chilling person named Mister Monday will stop at nothing to get the key back from Arthur... Arthur will need to enter the mysterious house that has appeared in town - a house that only he can see. Maybe there he can unravel the secrets of the key - and at the same time find the cure to help the epidemic in his own world...