Wow.

That's He can't carry these on the bus.

I'll drive him.

Oh, hey, aiden would real like to have oatmeal cookies in his-- Yeah, uh-uh.

No.

He's going to be getting Lots of treats this week trick or treating.

Oh, hey, remember I work a double today.

Ok.

I've got plenty of Halloween decorating to do.

Hmm, that's always fun.

[aiden breathing heavily] oh! [chuckles] Hmm.

Hey, you cannot wear a mask To school.

Aiden, did you hear me? Aiden: Ghouls don't talk.

Oh, ok.

Well, then nod.

Ghouls' ears don't work.

They're decomposed.

[chuckles] all right.

How about you save the costume for Halloween? Go on and get changed.

I'm going to take you and your pumpkins to school.

[chuckles] Ok, aiden, go.

I'll be up in a minute to help.

Ok, mom.

Aiden: Mia salter says frogs are good and toads are bad, But I like them both.

And she repeats me all the time.

I hate that! It's not a bad word.

It's a feeling word.

Fine, I won't say it.

My mom says the same thing.

Who do you think is stronger? This guy, Or this guy? One time Ghosts? He's in there alone.

Think it's maybe some of those friends Who like to collect shiny things? [sighs] I have no idea.

But this guy has huge muscles, and flying powers.

I should probably take him to school.

I mean, maybe the teacher knows something about this.

Wait a minute, he sees ghosts, he feels what ghosts felt, But it's imaginary friends you're worried about? Aiden doesn't have imaginary friends.

Uh, until now.

It's normal.

He's normal.

Gifted, but normal.

Look, you're the one who's going to be late for the hospital.

It's very nice that you volunteered for the blood drive, But you really belong in a candy striper's outfit, You know that? Do candy stripers still exist? Only in my wildest dreams.

[chuckles] All right.

Bye.

No, I haven't seen aiden talking to any imaginary friends.

But I'll watch out for it.

It's good to find out what kids are into.

Thanks.

Like his ghosts.

[chuckles] You know, he's an expert on the topic.

Oh.

He's talked to you about ghosts.

Not me, but I hear him Correcting his friends, yeah.

Don't worry.

All kids think They know everything about something.

I'm sure aiden will chill on the topic once the season's over.

Is that too scary? He's seen worse.

I know.

Some of the decorations people put out Hey, tahsa, let me see what you're reading.

Did your older brother give you this? Yeah.

I'm gonna keep it, ok? He's nine, Which is still too young, In my opinion, for this.

Yeah.

Well, look, you have your hands full, So thank you for taking your time.

Oh, aiden's a great kid, and it's my job, so Oh, speaking of which, I heard you own the antique shop in town.

Yeah.

Vintage, antiques.

I have some things maybe someone could use.

Great.

Drop them by anytime.

Ok.

Thanks.

[sighs] ok.

They can't kiss, but can they say good-bye? Bye, mom.

Good-bye.

[horse neighing] [crickets chirping] [horse footsteps] [horse snorts] [crickets chirping] [horse neighing] [neighing loudly] [snorting] [neighs] [footsteps] Child, whispering: Can you see us? You did a good thing, giving blood.

You might have saved a life.

For the record, I didn't faint.

I just felt a little woozy.

You were very brave.

Well, nothing compared to you.

Facing down some big old headless horseman.

Well, he's not real.

Needles are.

He was a real ghost, wasn't he? Since aiden's been giving me images from his dreams, I'm not sure anymore.

I mean, he felt like a real ghost.

But didn't you follow it-- them--outside, Watch it go hi-ho-headless down the street? Maybe I was sleepwalking.

It's happened before.

I mean, aiden had seen this book at school-- Not the legend of sleepy hollow? Yeah! They're reading that in kindergarten? Well, some kid snuck it in.

It was that same day that he was talking to someone.

Someone with a head? I couldn't see anyone, But he just kept talking away.

Well, maybe the ghost vanished and he didn't notice.

I often keep talking long after people have left the room.

[chuckles] Come on, if aiden saw some headless guy, Don't you think he would have mentioned it to you? At least say, "mom, can I have a pony in the house?" Ok.

So maybe he just has an imaginary friend Like every other kid his age.

And what you saw is the actual headless horseman On the loose in grandview, in which case, Hang on to your hats.

Don't lose your head.

Thanks for the head's up.

Possibilities are endless.

God, I do feel a little woozy.

Caroline: My parents had a condo in arizona, So my mom's there permanently now.

Hey, ms.

Mayhew, how are you? I'm good.

And please, call me caroline.

What are you doing here? I thought you had a showing.

No, I got back early, and then I saw caroline Almost tip over with all of these boxes, So I just let her in.

Delia used to work with me Until she opened up her real estate business next door.

She told me.

Well, I brought a bunch of stuff From my parent'' house.

Wow, this is so beautiful.

Are you sure you want to get rid of it? Yeah, my sister and I went through everything.

We agreed.

My father died a couple months ago, So we're trying to get the house ready to put on the market.

Oh, look at this.

Ha! Oh, those are costumes.

We have boxes of them.

My parents had this huge Halloween party every year.

It was It was kind of our thing.

I'm sorry.

Don't be.

Why don't you just let us take care of the rest? That would be great.

I should go anyway.

I have a meeting at school.

Thank you so much.

Sure.

I'll call you.

Ok.

Is that a costume, or did her father ride? No, no, no, this box is costumes And this is all riding gear.

The mayhews are big horse people.

They have that farm out on pearson way.

[indistinct chatter] Man: Where's the barnacle? Did we lose her? Woman: Shh.

[indistinct chatter] Don't tell me aiden's teacher is haunted.

Ah, there are memories attached to these things.

I just don't know if they connect with what I saw it last night.

But it was riding a horse.

It? A man.

A headless man.

And you're thinking it's caroline's father? This is a small town, mel.

If someone were decapitated, we would have heard about it.

Well, there's gotta be more to it than that.

Ooh, I would really love to ask some questions Before caroline gets home.

Oh, yeah, go, go.

I'm happy to do it.

Ok, thanks.

Maybe I'll find a costume in here for me.

Hi.

Hi.

Is this the mayhews? Yeah, hi.

Can I help you? My name is melinda gordon.

I own an antique store in town, And I spoke with caroline today.

Oh, that's my sister.

I'm dana mayhew.

Hi.

Nice to meet you.

Um, could we talk for a second? Sure.

Come on in.

Ok.

So now that mom's squared away, Caroline and I thought that we would tackle the house.

How long have you been back from the city? I took two weeks off To help caroline organize the house.

You know, when you're a kid, You can't wait to get away, but I don't know, now I miss this place.

I'm not sure if we have any more pieces of that particular china set.

[indistinct chatter] Man: Where's the barnacle? Did we lose her? Woman: Shh.

Come on.

[indistinct chatter] Dana.

Uh, joel, this is melinda.

Um, caroline teachers her son.

Oh.

And she's gonna help us sell some things from the house at her shop.

This is joel.

He's been a friend of ours since we were little.

Nice to meet you.

You, too.

Dana was just telling me about her family.

Such great people.

Mr.

Mayhew was like a second father to me.

Taught me how to ride, sail.

It's a shame.

You both look so young.

Was your father young, too? I mean, was it unexpected? No.

He had early onset alzheimer's.

He was sick for a long time before he died.

You know, there's more stuff this way.

There's a whole lifetime worth.

Lots of memories in this house.

Oh, I think there might be something in this box.

[grunting] [neighing] Um I know that this is going to sound like a strange question, But how did it affect your father? The illness, I mean.

It was horrible.

He was delusional, And that goes with the territory.

He saw things.

Awful things.

What kind of things? Twisted images of the one thing he loved the most.

The horses? Yes.

When he got his diagnosis, he was so angry.

They basically said he was going to lose his mind.

Can you imagine what that would feel like? So the father loved horses and lost his head to alzheimer's.

Gabing, gabang, headless horseman.

You got your ghost.

Ok, but I had a vision Of the father seeing the ghost, Like he was being haunted by the horseman.

Or a projection of the man's own fears.

Ok, so is that what's galloping around town right now, his fears? Or his rage.

You said he didn't take the diagnosis well.

Um, would you? I expect to lose my mind On a daily basis.

I'm a shrink, you know.

[chuckles] ok.

So if dad is our ghost But he's delusional, then how do I reach him? I don't know.

I'm in over my head.

I can't make heads or tales of it.

Ok, what happened in sleepy hollow? Did you read the book? Yeah.

It's basically the tale of ichabod crane, This gangly loser who reaches above his station.

Above his station? He likes this pretty girl, He's head over heels for her, you might say.

Uh, you might.

Anyway, she's out of his league.

So the girl's studly boyfriend Uses the legend of the headless horseman to scare poor ichabod off.

Well, what about the horseman? Just some hessian mercenary who came to a bad end.

See? That's who I think we should be looking for.

The rider, not caroline's father.

Oh, right.

Some invisible dead german mercenary.

There's a lot of those around.

Have you lost your head? Say good-night, eli.

[sighs] [thud] [groaning] I don't know how it got there.

[gasping] It was so weird.

You know, I couldn't move.

It's like everything was numb.

You're positive the ghost died of alzheimer's? The dad did.

But we don't even know if he's the ghost.

Why? Just numb, immobilized.

A steel rod, right? You know, in severe spinal injuries, The head can become completely detached from the body, With the skin's the only thing holding it on.

I know.

What they do is they insert a steel rod Into the vertebrae to reconnect the head.

And someone can live like that? For a time.

So maybe your ghost wasn't technically decapitated, But lived long enough-- To imagine that his head and body are completely separate.

Yeah.

[rustling] Oh.

We know who that is.

Aiden.

I will go.

You stay.

Ah.

Buddy, what are you doing? I have to put my costumes away.

It's the middle of the night.

I have to.

They don't like them.

Who doesn't like them? My friends.

Hey, are yourFriends here right now? Hey.

Look.

Talk to me, huh? What's wrong with your costumes? They're bad.

Why? Because you can't see inside them.

You can't see who's wearing them.

You're serious, huh? I mean, somebody really told you this? Honey, you know it's perfectly normal For little kids to both love and fear Halloween.

He was on a mission.

Jim said it was like he was taking orders.

Yeah, from his "friends.

" You know, maybe they're just his way Of getting out of trick or treating; An excuse because the whole concept is too scary for him.

He's not afraid of Halloween.

Aiden's a pretty tough kid.

He'sMy kid.

Maybe it's a little scarier When you know that ghosts are real.

And are you sure your headless friend is? A real ghost, I mean? Yeah, he dropped by last night, And by dropped, I mean his head.

What?! Ok.

Here we go.

sean flanders, Was injured at the mayhew farm, Thrown from a horse and broke his neck, in critical condition.

The horse broke a leg and was put down.

Sean died almost a month later.

He was 20 years old.

Caroline must have known him.

Maybe she knows why he's haunting her father From his deathbed.

Yeah, and why he's still around.

But she's aiden's teacher.

What are you going to tell her? Anything but, "aiden's got a weird mom who can see ghosts.

" Yeah.

Thanks so much for bringing these.

Oh, thanks for helping me with them, you didn't have to.

Oh, no problem.

We're hitting up all the parents.

The school's running low on art supplies 'cause of Halloween.

Uh, look, I brought you this receipt, 'cause almost all the costumes You brought me have sold already.

Hmm.

Yeah.

You know, people were really interested In the equestrian gear.

I don't ride anymore.

So whatever you can get for it, we'll take it.

Look, I know about the accident That happened at your farm with that boy.

You're talking about sean, right? He wasn't a boy.

Well, I guess he was.

When you're 18, Did you know him well? Yeah, yeah, we all did.

He had a way of making people feel close to him.

He drew you in.

He drew me in.

I'm sorry, this is hard for me to talk about, Especially after just losing my father.

Were he and sean close? No.

My father saw through him right from the start.

Whoever told you about the accident Probably didn't even know about this Because we never pressed charges, But sean stole from us.

The last thing he took was my mother's jewelry, But it probably wasn't the first.

He was running away on my father's horse when he fell.

That's awful.

Can you think of a reason Why he would want to hurt you and your family? By stealing from us? Hey.

I'm a little early.

Hello again.

Are you still up for dinner? Yeah, I'd love to.

I have to come back here after, though.

I still have a ton of work.

Ok.

I'm sorry, are we good here? Yeah.

Let me just grab my things.

[crickets chirping] He--hello? Is anybody here? [horse galloping] Hello? [crickets chirping] [keys jingling] [gasps] Who put this [horse neighs] Sean? Morning.

Hi.

Thanks for letting me drop this stuff off before school.

Sure.

Here.

I could have just come by your house later.

Uh, actually, I really wanted to talk to you about something.

Ok.

Well, do you want to come in? Uh, can we just Yeah.

Something really weird happened to me At the school last night.

Maybe it's just Halloween Or the fact that I was alone, but You didn't feel like you were alone.

The candle in the scarecrow's head lit itself.

That's not possible, is it? Shouldn't be.

Why were you asking me about sean? It seemed like you knew something.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but-- You're not crazy, but you might think that I am.

I can seeGhosts.

I know that's hard to believe.

Maybe because of what happened last night, It's not so hard to believe, But it's fact.

Ok.

Uh, wow.

I know I felt something around me, But now, to hear that it's true Yeah.

Does aiden know what you can do? He knows.

That must be a hard thing to explain to a little boy.

Look, the reason I was asking questions about sean Is because I've seen him.

And I think he might be haunting your family, And I just wanted to know if you had any idea why.

I could take a wild guess.

[sighs] Sean and I were supposed to run away and get married The night that he broke his neck.

My dad hired sean to help out at the stables.

I was a senior in high school and he was Technically a bad boy, I guess.

Took a joy ride in a car with some friends, So he had a record, but he was sweet.

He was kind.

My dad thought he was being so charitable, Giving a break to a guy like sean.

As long as he knew his place.

But from the first time we talked, I thought-- Sean and I both thought that his place was with me.

When my father found out, he wanted to fire sean.

I cried in my room for a week.

My dad let sean stay on, But we started sneaking around, Which just made things more intense.

We felt like the only way we could be together was to elope.

I was 18.

We picked Halloween because we knew My parents would be busy with the party.

It would be hours before anyone realized we were gone.

Sean: Come on.

I had never been happier than I was that night.

Carrying that secret.

Standing on the edge of the rest of my life.

But then He didn't come.

I couldn't understand.

Caroline's dad: And this is how you repay me? Caroline: Until I saw what was happening up at the house.

Stealing from me? Stealing from my wife? It was sean.

You're wrong! What's going on? Caroline! Where are they? Give me back what you've taken! What?! He was thrown less than a mile from the house.

The fall broke his neck.

They found the jewelry in his car.

[sighs] I still keep wondering What he was thinking-- If he just used me to get access to the house, If he really wanted to marry me.

Did you ask him? I mean, I read that he survived for several weeks.

He was in the hospital, completely paralyzed, But I never went to see him.

Is that why he's angry with me? I think he's angry with your father.

I think he's been haunting him a long time.

How do you know that? I get these visions.

[neighing] ahh! My father's terrors.

Sometimes, when a ghost is angry, They can feel lost, And they can see the worst in themselves.

But what more does he want from us? He violated our trust.

He stole from us.

Are you sure about that? Because sean came to me And he said something that I didn't really understand at the time.

What? "I don't know how it got there.

" Are you sure he's not talking about the jewelry, That maybe somebody planted on him? I mean, why would you run away on a horse If the jewelry was in the car? There was a witness.

My sister saw everything.

Delia: Ok, let me get this straight.

Basically, sean was making out with caroline one minute, And then he was stealing her mother's jewelry the next.

Sounds bad, doesn't it? Uh, yeah.

You know, why was he so angry with them? You know? Why was he haunting people who he had wronged? Maybe he hated her old man For thinking he wasn't good enough.

You're not thinking he's innocent? The sister saw the whole thing.

Well, there were so many people at the party that night, And everybody was in costumes.

Wait a minute.

The bad thing about costumes Is that you don't know who's inside them.

Excuse me? Well, that's what aiden's "friends" told him.

Ok, you're not letting sean off the hook Because of something one of aiden's imaginary friends said? No, but it was a costume party.

I mean, maybe caroline's sister was confused.

[indistinct chatter] Hey, where's the barnacle? We lose her? Shh! Come on.

Are you sure you want to do this? I want to marry you.

Tonight.

Did you see something? Yeah.

Caroline and sean.

Um, through a mask like this one.

That's dana.

She saw sean and her sister talking.

They were talking about getting married.

Caroline said that he had this way of drawing you in, And dana, she must have been what, 12 or 13? I mean, that's prime crush age.

You think she lied to bust them up? If she did, it worked.

And now sean is haunting all the wrong people.

[neighs] Whoa! Whoa, boy.

[neighing] Careful, dana.

Whoa, easy, boy.

Easy, easy.

[neighing] Aah! [groaning] Hey.

Hey.

How's caroline's sister? Did you check on her? Yeah.

She's ok.

A concussion, dislocated shoulder, But otherwise, she's fine.

And caroline's waiting for you.

Ok.

Aiden's at the mcallisters.

Do whatever you need to do.

I'm off, ok? I'll get him ready for trick or treating.

Ok.

Bye.

Bye.

Hey.

Hi.

Thank you so much for coming.

Yeah, of course.

She said the horse just went crazy.

Could sean have done this to her? It's possible.

I mean, he's been haunting the house for years, And animals have heightened senses.

I mean, I have seen them react to ghosts before.

Can I talk to dana? Yeah, I hope you don't mind.

I told her what you can do.

I think sean's still angry About what happened that night.

I just told my mother what I saw.

That must have been hard for you, Considering how you felt about him.

Did caroline tell you that? In a way.

I guess you could say he was my first love.

After skateboards and barbie dolls.

I'm sure he knew.

I'm sure everybody knew.

I was 12.

He didn't pay much attention to me.

He was in love with your sister.

Yeah.

There was that.

Wherever sean went, caroline followed, With some lame excuse about where she was going.

But you knew what was going on.

Well, I was old enough to understand they were a couple But too young to understand Why he couldn't just as easily have chosen me.

That night at the party, I decided that I would be the one to follow him.

I don't know what I was thinking Or what I thought would happen.

But you only saw him from behind? It was him.

How did you know? Because of the way he walked.

He'd been thrown the day before.

He twisted his ankle.

He let me put the bandage on it.

He was limping.

I wish I had never followed him.

I wish I had never seen anything.

But that's not all you saw.

You saw he and caroline making their plans.

What plans? They were going to elope.

What? You didn't know? No.

Wait a minute.

This is you.

Isn't it? I mean, this is the mask that you were wearing At the party? Dana: Before the party, sean was teasing me about my costume.

Sean: That's not even spooky.

He said it was lame because it wasn't scary, It wasn't even a disguise.

So joel let me borrow his mask.

Can I have your mask, please? Here.

Joel was always around.

He treated me like a kid sister.

So this is joel's mask? Yeah.

He had been wearing it the whole night.

[indistinct chatter] [sighs] joel.

Hi.

I don't understand what a mask has to do with anything.

A lot, actually.

It may have lead to someone's death.

You're talking about sean.

I'm sure whatever you did, You had no idea where it would end.

They called dana "the barnacle.

" Can I have your mask, please? Look, not now, dana.

Come on, joel! You don't really need it.

Joel: That night, I saw why she wanted my mask, And she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Because sean had teased her about her costume.

I was just trying to get rid of her.

I had other things on my mind.

Because you had seen sean and caroline And you knew about their plans? Yeah.

I saw caroline go off on her own.

It seemed like a good chance to talk.

Sean: Are you sure you want to do this? Caroline: Are you? Yes.

I want to marry you.

Tonight.

You wanted to stop them.

He was a dropout.

He had a record.

And you used that.

I didn't have to.

All I did was tell their father what I overheard.

I didn't do it to hurt anyone.

She was 18.

Wouldn't you want to know if your kid was running off? And then what happened? Uh, he told me to go home.

He said not to worry, that he'd handle it.

[sighs] I never thought to ask how.

[sighs] when I woke up the next morning, Sean was out of their lives.

And you still hung around the family.

I was waiting for caroline To get over him.

[sighs] I guess I still am.

[maniacal laughter] How could the father frame the boyfriend? There was a witness.

Yeah, who didn't see his face.

Yeah, well, how did he get sean's costume from him? Or did they just happen to be wearing the same one? Well, that was no accident, either.

There was a sign For people at the party Who didn't wear costumes.

[indistinct chatter] Her father didn't realize that dana Was following him through the party.

It was perfect.

"I don't know how it got there.

" You meant the jewelry.

I didn't know who put it there.

Not at that time.

I know her father hated me.

He hated anything he couldn't control.

Why didn't you just tell me you were innocent? How was I supposed to prove it? But now Caroline: Ready to go on the hay ride? Here, let me help you out.

There, you're all set.

Girl: Yeah, I'm ready.

We have to tell caroline.

Melinda: No, not now.

There's too much going on.

She has to know.

Sean, wait! [indistinct chatter] Sean! Wait! Here, let me fix that for you.

Thanks.

You ready? They're ready.

Girl: Yeah.

[horses neighing] [girl screaming] [neighing continues] [all screaming] Oh, my god, jessica! No! [horses neighing] jessica! [all screaming] Hold on, jessica! Oh, my god! oh, my god, jessica! [horses neighing] Sean, stop them! Stop it! You're doing this! [all screaming] jim: Aiden, stay with me! Jim! Aiden, stay here.

Aiden, stay here With your mom, I'm gonna go help.

[horses neighing] Whoa, easy girl, whoa.

You're ok.

[horse snorting] Jim: Everyone all right? I got you.

You ok, little angel? You ok? Yeah.

I can't believe my father would do all that, Just to keep us from being together.

Well, he probably thought that he was protecting you.

But there's something I don't understand.

If sean was innocent, why did he run? Why didn't he defend himself? I wanted to.

There was a witness.

He's here.

He wanted to fight for you, But he thought it was hopeless because there was a witness.

But he could have talked to me.

I would have believed him.

That's not what was in her eyes.

What do you mean? The way she looked at me, her eyes Her father, he-- He looked at me like I was some sort of charity case, You know, someone who was just going To take something from him.

I guess he was right.

From the moment we met, I felt like she saw me.

You know, a better me.

Someone I could be, not just the mistakes I made.

He saw the best version of himself in your eyes.

Till that night.

That night, she looked at me Like I was a thief.

If caroline doubted me, Who was going to believe me? What was I going to fight for? She was everything to me.

So I ran.

When he saw you doubting him, He felt like he'd lost everything.

I'm so sorry I left you there.

All those weeks in the hospital How could you know? Your father tricked you.

What about my father? His spirit? How could he do what he did And still find peace? Is he here, too? Sean: No.

He's gone.

Did you see him go into the light? Part of him was drawn to the light.

Part of him wasn't.

What does that mean? Did he cross over? He's gone.

I saw him leave.

Your father is gone.

Is that for me? I loved you.

I always will.

That's it.

That's the way she used to look at me.

You know, we should at least hear what eli has to say.

He is a professional, after all.

Hey, can't we just let him have his friends? I just want to understand it.

I mean, they knew about my ghost.

They knew that sean's costume was part of a lie.

Aiden's gifted.

Maybe his friends didn't tell him anything he doesn't already know.

Yeah, maybe.

All right, what aren't you telling me? It's just, at first, I thought it was about Halloween.

You know, his fears, his need to be comforted by these friends.

What if it's not the holiday? What if it's the season? Season? The book of changes.

It says, "when the leaves fall, so will the innocent.

" Look Maybe the book meant your headless horseman ghost, right? He turned out to be innocent.

It's not about a ghost.

The entry was right next to aiden's name.

You know, carl said that aiden Would have powers that I don't.

What if that means seeing things that I can't, Things that are real? Hey.

Hey, buddy.

How you doin'? Did you have a good little chat with uncle eli? Hmm? We had a great talk, didn't we? Aiden, tell your mom and dad what you were telling me.

Tell them why your friend's shy.

Because they don't have faces.

They're made of light.

That sounds-- that sounds pretty.

Are they nice? Mm-hmm.

But they're scared.

What are they scared of, buddy? Of the shadows.

Like the shadows that are in your closet at night? No, silly.

Not those shadows.

The shadows that move.

What kind of shadows are those? The ones they make from the parts that get left behind.

Parts of what? People.

Broken people.

Hey, ok.

Let's go get dinner ready, huh? You're gonna be my sous chef, right, buddy? [sighs] [door opens and closes] Sean said right before he crossed over That part of caroline's father Was drawn to the light and part wasn't.

Is that what he meant? That only parts of them go into the light? Is that possible? I don't know.

I've never seen what happens once they get towards the light.

So a spirit can split itself into 2 parts? Maybe that's not how it happens.

Maybe it's just like aiden said.

Maybe some people are justBroken.