An Avon lady, Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest), discovers the half-finished experiment of a mad scientist (Vincent Price) living in the neighborhood's old abandoned castle. He created a man/monster named Edward (Johnny Depp) and died before replacing the shy man's large shears with real hands. When Peg attempts to bring Edward into her suburban world, to live among her skeptical family and gossipy neighbors, his hands, dangerous yet capable of creating things of great beauty, make for some awkward, funny, and poignant situations.