Hellboy is called to Amalfi, Italy, by Franca, a young member of the Esposito family. She fears that a dark curse on her family is about to claim her cousin as its next victim. Hellboy makes his way to their large home... and he encounters a flaming demona fire wolfwhich he successfully fights off. Hellboy and Franca make their way to Pompeii, where Franca remembers seeing an image of the fire wolf whilst on an archaeological dig. Hellboy unearths the shriveled corpse of a demon hunter who was buried during the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius, and it tells him of the fire demon that escaped the grip of the volcano... leading to that devastating eruption. As the volcano rumbles again, with a new thirst for human blood, an eruption even more devastating than that historical catastrophe looks very, very close "Tim Lebbon is an immense talent and he's become a new favorite. He has a style and approach unique to the genre." —Joe R. Lansdale