It was a cool October morning in New York City. The Ghostbusters were inside the firehouse waiting for their next call. Egon was with Winston and Peter in his laboratory as they were trying to install new features to the P.K.E. Meter.
"So tell me again what these new features will do, Egon?" asked Peter.
"They will install a miniature video camera and we'll be able to see what the ghosts we detect look like before we find them and maybe we'll know how to trap them easier," Egon explained.
"Oh yeah!" said Peter nonchalantly. "So it will be like Smile spooks you're on the candid Ghostbusting camera!"
Winston chuckled while Egon just continued concentrating intensely on his work.
Just then the lights around them suddenly went out and they were left in total darkness.
"Oh great! Another power outage!" groaned Peter.
"Now, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for it," Egon said calmly.
"I just hope it isn't like the one there was the last time," said Winston gravely.
Then suddenly they heard the sound of peculiar footsteps coming toward them. They looked around but could see nothing in the darkness though they could feel a presence coming up behind them. Then suddenly a light flickered on faintly behind them. Slowly they looked over their shoulders and they all yelled out in abject horror at the sight of the horrible, ugly, gruesome greenish brown contorted face staring right at them.
Then almost as suddenly the lights around them that had previously been off came back on and now they could see the full figure attached to the gruesome face before them and realized exactly what had just occurred.
"Ray!" Peter yelled. "What's the big idea freaking us out like that? You want to give us all heart failure?"
Ray, who was the youngest Ghostbuster, laughed gaily as he took of the mask he had worn. Behind him Slimer flew up from where he had been by the light switch and joined in the laughing.
"Aw, come on guys!" Ray said innocently. "It's Halloween in a few days and I was just trying out my choice of costume for this year, and I see that it has the desired effects!" He laughed again.
"Oh yeah! Zombies are always a hoot and holler this time of year!" said Winston a bit exasperated. "But seriously Ray, don't you think you're a bit too old for this sort of thing?"
"Of course not!" said Ray. "You're never too old for the fun of scaring people at Halloween."
"Oh sure!" said Peter cynically. "And I guess Halloween must've been invented by some old hooligans who couldn't find anything better to do than put on freaky masks and scare the living daylights out of kids and then make up for it by giving them free candy."
"On the contrary, Peter," Egon said looking up from his work. "Halloween happens to be based on a series of ancient Pagan and Celtic customs and rituals from thousands of years ago about celebrating the spirits of those who have passed on from this world at this time of year when the days are shorter and the transition between light and dark is thinner; and of keeping away bad spirits which is what we do every day of the year so I don't see why we shouldn't keep such age-old traditions alive like Ray says."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Peter said dismissively.
"I always did like Halloween," said Winston putting in his two cents. "It is after all a night of chills and thrills."
"Oh yeah! It's Thriller Night!" Ray sang out in a high-pitched voice as if trying to imitate the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.
"I can't stand that song," Peter groaned bitterly. "But at least now there is one less pedophile in the world."
"He was not a pedophile!" Ray exclaimed very upset and indignantly. "He was found innocent on all counts, remember?"
"Oh yeah! Sorry. I just forgot," Peter said with a touch of sarcasm to his voice. "And now his ghost haunts his beloved Neverland Ranch."
"No, Peter. What we saw on TV was a shadow, not a ghost," Egon corrected him.
Peter was about to reply when just then they heard Janine call to them from upstairs. "Guys, you've got a call!"
Glad to now have something to detract them from their inept conversation the four Ghostbusters rushed up the stairs and into their office where Janine stood holding out the phone. Egon took it from her.
"Ghostbusters Central, this is Dr. Egon Spangler speaking," he said into the receiver.
"Hello, my name is Charles Deets," said the voice a very anxious man on the other end. "I'm calling because I always feel like I'm being watched inside my home."
"So you mean to say you think your house is haunted by specters?" asked Egon.
"Well, I don't know. Maybe. I've never seen any ghosts. It's just that things seem to just mysteriously come and go and turn off and on around me," Mr. Deets continued.
"Hmm... Then it sounds to me like you have a poltergeist in your home," said Egon thoughtfully.
"But I also hear strange noises around me sometimes too," Mr. Deets continued in an anxious whisper. "Sometimes I could almost swear I hear voices too."
"Hmm... Well, that is certainly suspicious. We'll be there in a few minutes," Egon said.
Then after the man gave his address he hung up and turned to the others. "Gentlemen, we have a new case of specters to crack. The fellow said he hasn't seen any ghosts so this should be a good opportunity to try out the P.K.E. Meter's new features."
So then the Ghostbusters got into their Ecto vehicle and drove to Charles Deets' residence.
When they arrived at it they saw it was an average house. Charles Deets stepped out and they saw he looked like a very average man if very agitated.
"Thank Goodness you're here!" Charles exclaimed as he approached them. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"So, you're the guy who feels like you're living in the Twilight Zone, huh?" asked Peter a bit jokingly.
"Well, I guess that is a very good way of putting it," said Charles. "I just always feel like somebody is watching me."
"Do you mean you feel like people can see you on your TV screen?" asked Ray.
"Well, no," said Charles. "Although I do from time to time see the TV set change the channel on its own without me doing anything... and also I at times hear this eerie laughter coming from somewhere around it."
"How about when you're in the shower? Are you afraid of turning around to find someone standing there wielding a machete like in Psycho?" asked Winston.
"Well... yes I am, now that you mention it," said Charles turned a shade paler of white. "Ghostbusters you simply have to find out what's going on in my house and do something about it. I just want to left alone and to live an average life."
"Calm down, sir. We'll go right in and investigate," Egon said as he took out the P.K.E. Meter and turned it on.
The Ghostbusters entered the house with Charles staying outside. When they entered they could see absolutely nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.
"This looks just like your average living room to me," said Peter. "Are you getting any readings Egon?"
Egon studied the P.K.E. Meter a moment and replied, "Yes, as a matter of fact I am. And very high readings indeed. A class 9 and 5 to be precise. Let's investigate further."
So they went into the kitchen and found more readings. Then they went upstairs and looked in the bathroom and bedroom and even the hall closet and found more readings, and yet they could find no traces of any visible ghosts.
"I don't get it," said Winston in confusion. "The readings are high on the scale and yet we don't see any visible entities."
Ego looked very closer at the PKE Meter and said, "Now is the right time to see if the newly installed feature will actually work." He pressed a newly installed button on it and then a light whirring noise was heard from it.
Then Egon studied the P.K.E. Meter even more closely and his eyes widened slightly in surprise and slight confusion.
"What do you see, Egon?" asked Ray apprehensively.
"This is very strange indeed," said Egon musingly. "The images on the little screen here show only dim outlines of a figure. The figure look humanlike. An average size adult to be exact. Though I'm afraid I cannot make out anything else at all."
"Yeah, that is strange," said Peter.
Then they went back outside and met again with Charles who approached them asking very anxiously, "Well, did you find out what the source of all my agitation has been?'
"Well, frankly," began Egon, "We found very few clues about what it might be. Although I do have a few suspicions of my own for it. Tell me, how long have you been living here?"
"For six and a half years, or so," replied Charles.
"And have you been experiencing these strange occurrences since then?" asked Egon further.
"Why... yes. I have," replied Charles uneasily.
"Then I suspect you may have the spirits of a family of passed on humans dwelling within your walls," Egon said in a serious and solemn tone.
"But how is that possible?" asked Charles very upset.
"I'm afraid we don't know as of yet," replied Egon. "But I have a feeling we will know tonight after dark."
"But why after dark?" asked Charles.
"Because that is the only time when these kinds of spirits have the will and the ability to show themselves to the living," Egon explained.
"Very well," said Charles. "You may come back here tonight after I'm asleep. Just make sure not to wake me. I don't think I could bear the sight of a real ghost."