Part 2 picks up later that night and as Amanda tosses and turns in bed, we see a hand punching through the patched up hole in the closet’s wall [!!!]. Amanda doesn’t see this herself, but she does hear whoever’s attacking the wall huffing and puffing. Too scared to check out the closet alone, Amanda wakes the whole house up who notice the fresh hole as something falls to the ground from the closet’s ceiling. It’s a newspaper, ‘The Dark Falls Daily’, dated from years ago [Is three years classified as years ago?] with the headline “Accident at Chemical Factory Kills Workers” [Yasss, exposition!]
The family summons Compton the next morning to confront him, but he assures the Bensons the water and soil has been tested and there’s no danger. Dad also mentions the hole in Amanda’s closet, which Compton suggests is raccoons [Is that something raccoons do?]. Later, Amanda’s chilling on the porch when Karen appears and asks if she’s feeling OK. Amanda admits that she wishes they had a different house, and Karen confesses to feeling the exact same way “when I moved in.” [Wait, maybe the townspeople that survived the factory accident were poisoned and now rely on converting new families to survive somehow?]. Karen quickly catches herself, explaining she meant her own house, but she can’t fool me!
That pesky sun makes an appearance again so Karen to suggests they go inside, where she enquires about the good luck wreath over the fireplace. Amanda explains that it supposedly protects them from evil, but she sounds like a non-believer to me [It must actually work though, because the Bensons have lasted this long]. Amanda confides in Karen about how scared she is because of what’s been happening, and Karen suggests a possible link to the wreath after admitting it gives her the creeps [Sneaky bitch!]. She compares it to scary movies where “the family brings something old into the house and then… bad things start happening,” and Amanda takes the bait, realising that all the strange things started happening after the wreath was put on display [It was literally the first thing they did in the house, so Amanda wouldn’t even know any different? It’s just as accurate, and more realistic, to say the bad things started happening from the moment they moved in].
Karen suggests Amanda get rid of the wreath “before something really bad happens,” and a second later, Josh bursts in after discovering Petey missing. Karen watches from the back porch as the Bensons inspect a hole in the fence, “like something ripped it apart.” Karen’s parents will be arriving for lunch soon, so Mum and Dad wanna wait to search for the dog, but a distraught Josh refuses and escapes through the hole himself. Amanda follows after him, and they both completely miss Petey’s broken collar on the ground on the other side of the fence [They’re not very good detectives].
Amanda and Josh find Petey in the woods, whimpering as they approach him. They try to coax him towards them, but Petey doesn’t want a bar of these two and runs off. They stumble across the Dark Falls Cemetery as they chase after him and head through the gates to look for their beloved pet, unaware they’re being watched by Ray [!!!]. They soon hear voices and, following the sound, they find the residents of Dark Falls having a meeting right in the middle of the tombstones [!!!].
The kids watch from their hiding place as the mayor assures the townspeople that although time is short, the threat will soon pass and they’ll be able to feed. A scabby-looking construction worker [Another recycled actor, having played both the Masked Mutant and the second Haunted Mask] insists he doesn’t have time and needs to feed now, and the mayor promises that “by sunset, we’ll all eat.” [Ooh, what’s happening at sunset?]. A twig snaps under Amanda’s foot and we get a good look at the ghoulish townspeople as they spot the Benson kids [No doubt inspired by ‘The Omega Man’ which I’ve never seen, but I have seen the Treehouse of Horror segment that spoofs it!]. The group approaches the kids, with the scabby man explaining “We need you,” but Amanda and Josh aren’t interested and run off.
Their path is blocked by the town’s children, lead by Ray, who’s looking just as grey and scabby as the adults and reveals he’s the Watcher and used to occupy Amanda’s room before he died [He doesn’t really explain what a Watcher is, though]. The adults approach from behind as it’s revealed the townspeople fed on Ray’s family’s blood to survive and now they need the Bensons’ blood. The whole town seems to be surrounding the kids by now, including the girl who popped out of the closet to urge Amanda to leave the other night [Why did warn Amanda to leave if she needed to drink her blood to survive?] and just as one of them grabs Amanda, the sun saves the day by conveniently showering his hand in sunlight, which makes his hand smoke. The rest of the villains jump back in fright, providing a brief window of escape for Amanda and Josh who are quickly chased by the townsfolk.
Amanda and Josh arrive home and explain what’s going on to Mum and Dad and the Thurstons, who back up the children’s wild claims and reveal that all those contaminated by the accident at the chemical plant a few years ago became the living dead and “need the fresh blood of the living” to survive [Karen’s complexion is more colourful now than ever before, which doesn’t make sense because the Thurstons are definitely the living dead too?]. The Thurstons claim to have thought the ghouls were gone for good, but something must have brought them back which Amanda [Incorrectly] realises is the work of the lucky wreath [Why are the Bensons believing these obvious lies?].
Dad’s never liked the ugly thing and is more than happy to rip it off the wall, and after seeing the ghouls outside Mum quickly disposes of the wreath in the burning fireplace as the Thurstons exchange knowing glances. And then, to the surprise of no-one but the Bensons, Agnes starts to cackle, revealing that the wreath actually was keeping them safe [And now the Thurstons all look like ghouls too? How come they still looked normal while everyone else in town looked dead for the last 10 minutes?] as the rest of the ghouls break into the house. The townsfolk insist Dark Falls is a great place to live and the Bensons will love it here, revealing that a new family will move in after them thanks to Compton’s exceptional real estate skills.
The Bensons flee upstairs and to the attic, which is quickly overrun by ghouls who capture Mum and Dad. Noticing sunlight peeking through some slats on the window shutters, Amanda conveniently realises the townspeople are afraid of sunlight [Even though it was obvious days ago]. The Benson children quickly rip all the shutters off the window and as the sunlight pours into the room, the ghouls evaporate into smoke, leaving nothing behind but piles of clothes on the floor.
Safe at last, the Bensons escape to the car but are confronted by Compton and some other ghouls who weren’t with the attacking group appear [What, the sun’s miraculously gone now?]. Compton complains that they need the Bensons because they’re hungry, but the family simply drives away. They find Petey on the road and after getting him into the car, the main story ends as he begins to turn grey, revealed to be one of the living dead [Poor Petey!].
Back to Stine now, who sits with Petey’s actor, commending him on his acting abilities before the episode finally ends with one final scare as Petey turns grey again.
Final thoughts
I’m mad that I never gave this episode/chance because it was actually pretty good, playing out like a true horror movie but with less deaths! I have so many questions, though – what was the whole deal with the wreath? What was so lucky about it? How did the ghouls know it was lucky? How exactly did it protect the Bensons, anyway? It didn’t stop the ghouls from breaking in, but somehow stopped them being attacked? Also, who was the woman/girl that came from the closet to warn Amanda? Why did she warn her when she needed the Bensons’ blood as well? How come the Thurstons’ complexion seemed to depend on if they were around the Bensons or not, especially when they were over for lunch? And why did it not even cross the Bensons’ minds that the Thurstons were ghouls too, especially after finding out everyone else in town was dead?
I could go on and on and on, but I won’t because all these unanswered questions unexpectedly didn’t drive me crazy and ruin the episode, so I was still entertained! I liked Amanda as a heroine too, I liked how the plot slowly built up to the big climax without being too convoluted or pointless!
37 random ghoul girls appearing from the closet to warn you to leave for some reason despite relying on your blood to live out of 45!
