After a night of drinking and gambling, John Ferguson has a terrifying dream of his neighbor being violently torn to shreds by an unknown attacker. When he wakes up, he sees a strange and bloodied woman climbing through his window, suffering from amnesia. These strange occurrences are brought to a chilling climax when, the next day, Ferguson learns that his dream came true, and his neighbor was indeed brutally murdered during the night! With suspicion mounting against the mysterious woman, Ferguson sets out to uncover her true identity and find the vicious killer in the process.

Originally serialized in the Manchester Weekly Times and Salford Weekly News in twelve installments, The Goddess is another vivid example of Richard Marsh's gripping Gothic style, combining elements of crime, romance, and the supernatural while commenting explicitly on many issues of its time, including imperialism, the fin de siècle, and the New Woman.