Acute viral encephalitides have a high mortality and morbidity in all age groups. Early institution of appropriate medical treatment can alter the prognosis dramatically. Imaging studies may be normal or may show a wide variety of subtle findings in the initial stages. Knowledge of the extremely varied clinical as well as radiological expression of the disease is essential to enable timely diagnosis. A case is presented here of histopathologically proven Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE), wherein a large intracerebral haematoma was seen on imaging studies. Observation of the accompanying subtle findings and knowledge of the variability of expression of this disease helped in reaching the correct diagnosis.