We pick up from immediately after part 1, with Steve struggling to catch his breath, so he seeks out a refreshing beverage at a nearby house. As he waits for an answer, he catches a glimpse of his reflection in the window and is horrified to see the mask mould even more tightly to his face [Better find a symbol of love quick smart, Steve!].
No-one answers the door so Steve hobbles off, using a stick for a cane. Eventually he collapses in front of two trick-or-treaters and begs them to help him take off the mask. Unable to find the end of the mask beneath Steve’s shirt, the trick-or-treaters run off in fright, thinking it’s really his face [I’ve just noticed Steve’s jacket now looks super worn and raggedy, so he really does look like a creepy, smelly old man by this point!], and soon Steve’s hands change into disgusting old person claws:
Meanwhile, Carly Beth has lead Chuck and Sabrina to the ramshackle party store, thinking Steve would have come here for help just like she did last year, and explains that a symbol of love ‘”defeated the evil of the mask. The Haunted Mask”‘ [Could his pirate costume a symbol of love? His mother made it for him, similar to the plaster head Carly Beth’s mum made]. We see the shopkeeper watching from within the dark building, and Carly Beth feels ‘”something cold”‘. They head round back and enter the store, and Carly Beth is surprised to find it empty. Chuck and Sabrina suggest Steve took off the mask and is relaxing at home, and although Carly Beth isn’t convinced, she agrees to go with them to check.
That’s just wishful thinking, because Steve is soon found by the shopkeeper who tells him his hideous, old face is perfect and introduces himself as ‘”the evil that controls you.”‘ He reveals Steve and the mask are one, so Steve is now ‘”a feeble, helpless old man”‘, and the shopkeeper demands Steve to bring Carly Beth’s plaster head to him if he ever wants to see is young face again. The shopkeeper will wait for him in the graveyard until midnight, ‘”and not a second later.”‘ [Be punctual, Steve!]
Elsewhere, Carly Beth, Sabrina and Chuck find out that Steve’s not home, and Carly reminds her friends that the masks take over people, which must be what’s happened to Steve. They continue their search, eventually realising they haven’t checked the graveyard yet [I want to go to a graveyard on Halloween!], so they make their way there.
Meanwhile, Steve pays a visit to Carly Beth’s house and asks her mother for a glass of water with his raspy, sickly voice. As she goes to fetch him one from the kitchen, He sneaks in and steals the plaster head. He then scurries to the graveyard and finds the shopkeeper, who demands Steve destroy the plaster head and threatens to make his situation worse if he doesn’t. Scared for what other horrors await, Steve smashes the head, but not before it briefly comes to life and begs for help [Not this again hahaha].
With the symbol of love that defeated him last year destroyed, the shopkeeper is free to get his vengeance on Carly Beth [Oh, so this is a revenge plot!], who has just discovered the empty grave she’d made for the OG mask last year. The shopkeeper and Steve hear the others approaching and rush over to greet them. Steve grabs Carly Beth, holding her in place as the shopkeeper vows to finish what he started last year. The OG Haunted Mask then detaches itself from the shopkeeper and tries to possess Carly Beth [!!!!], but Steve shoves her out of the way at the last second, sending the mask crashing into him just as the clock hits midnight.
Steve is now able to take off the old man mask and the now-unpossessed shopkeeper explains pushing Carly Beth out of the way was a symbol of love [♪ Steve and Carly Beth kissing in a tree ♪]. He then wanders off, and we cut to the gang at Steve’s house later, admiring their candy. Steve’s mother notices he doesn’t seem as excited about Halloween anymore, and Steve cleverly quips ‘”I guess I’m getting too old”‘ [Good one, Steve]. Mum heads into the kitchen to make everyone some hot chocolate, and Carly Beth and Steve quickly pull the masks out of their bags to toss in the fire.
Our heroes watch the masks burn before heading into the kitchen too, unaware that the OG mask is magically healing itself in the dying flames. Sparky [Steve’s dog, if you forgot] briefly barks at it again before the story wraps up with him burying the mask in the backyard.
The episode then ends with a goodbye from our host, R.L. Stine, who bids us goodnight as he tucks into some of his favourite candy.
Final thoughts
This was pretty good! Definitely on par with the first Haunted Mask, and it was good to revisit the characters again. The mask itself wasn’t as scary as the OG one, but it was good to have both masks sharing the spotlight.
I was kind of expecting it to be more or less the same story as the first episode, so I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t the case [Although there were some throwbacks], especially because we got more of Carly Beth, who is one of, if not the, best protagonists we’ve had so far.
As far as I can tell, all of the other actors from the first one reprised their roles, even Noah and the shopkeeper who had barely any screen time, so I wonder why the original Steve didn’t return. Oh well!
55 Haunted Masks back for revenge out of 67!
